THUNDER WIRE - Happy Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Day to those who celebrate. A little over a month since the Oklahoma City Thunder captured an NBA championship, a month-long holiday is coming to an end as the NBA enters its dead period in August and September.

Gilgeous-Alexander was the last of 21 people to get their designated OKC holiday. Battling a heat wave and sea of humanity, OKC Mayor David Holt saved the best for last at the championship parade when he said Clay Bennett, Sam Presti, Mark Daigneault and all 18 Thunder players would get their own holiday from June 30 to July 30.

Doing it personal power rankings style, Gilgeous-Ale xander received the last day on July 30. Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams were the other two of the final three players to receive it.

On July 30, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Day, Mayor David Holt honored SGA with a special message on his X, formerly Twitter.

“SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER is one of 18 Thunder players who collectively won for OKC our first NBA Championship,” Holt said. “All 18 will live forever in our city’s history & in our hearts. In recognition of this accomplishment, I hereby proclaim that today is SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER DAY in OKC!”

It was quite the historic season for Gilgeous-Alexander. He won about every individual award imaginable. The MVP, Conference Finals MVP, NBA Finals MVP, scoring title, All-NBA First Team and All-Star. He capped it off with a championship ring and headlined one of the greatest teams ever.

The partying continued in the offseason. Gilgeous-Alexander signed a supermax extension that’ll keep him in OKC for the foreseeable future. As Thunder fans know, that third contract is never a guarantee to be signed by your franchise player.

That’s certainly worth a holiday in itself. Now, Gilgeous-Alexander gets a chance to be celebrated by Thunder fans again. The Thunder will enter the 202526 season with a chance to repeat. They’ll bring back the same roster that went a historic 68-14 last year.

As long as Gilgeous-Alexander remains healthy, the Thunder will always be in the title conversations. OKC’s window starts and stops with the 27-year-old’s ascension into one of the greatest players ever.

“He has no ego. There’s no I’m just gonna score, I’m trying to make it by myself — it’s never that,” Isaiah Hartenstein said. “There were even times at the beginning of the season where he threw me a pass, he got trapped, and I threw it to the next man to get a shot. And I’m like, ‘Sorry. I’ll finish it next time to get you an assist,’ and he’s like I don’t care. I just wanna win. So, do whatever you need. Even if he’s putting up those huge numbers, he’s not searching them.” For Hartenstein, Gilgeous-Ale xander’s offensive prowess stays within the natural flow of the Thunder’s attack. “He’s trying to make the team as best as possible,” Hartenstein added. “Him playing on both ends of the court — I think that’s something that’s super underrated. He plays defense. You can’t just go pick on him, and he tries on defense. It’s not like I settled for five seconds. I’m tired. I’m gonna just chill on defense. He doesn’t do that. When you see that, it just gives us the push, gives us the confidence that he’s gonna do it on both sides of the court.”

Hartenstein, Gilgeous-Alexander, and the Thunder will defend their title in 202526.