Gilgeous-Alexander wins NBA’s Clutch Player of Year award in landslide, topping Murray, Edwards

Gilgeous-Alexander got 96 of a possible 100 first-place votes. Jamal Murray of Denver was second, one point ahead of Anthony Edwards of Minnesota.

Edwards didn’t reach the 65-game eligibility standard for most league awards like MVP and the All-NBA team — and unsuccessfully appealed for a waiver that would have put him on those ballots — but his candidacy for the clutch award wasn’t affected by that rule.

Instead, the finalists for the clutch award were decided by a survey of the league’s coaches. That whittled the group down to 14 names, which were then placed onto the ballot that a panel of 100 reporters and broadcasters who cover the league filled out last week to decide the various awards.

Gilgeous-Alexander has been a contender for the clutch award since it was added to the league’s slate of trophies; he was third last season, eighth in 2024 and seventh in 2023.

And now, it’s his.

“I’m proud I get to hoist it,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It means I’m effective out there.”

Gilgeous-Alexander becomes the fourth player to win the clutch award, which was added in tribute to Jerry West — the inspiration for the NBA’s logo and the player long known as “Mr. Clutch” as a nod to his exploits when the outcome of games was on the line.

De’Aaron Fox (then of Sacramento, now of San Antonio) was the first clutch award recipient in 2023, followed by Golden State’s Stephen Curry in 2024 and New York’s Jalen Brunson last season. Brunson was a nominee again this year, finishing fifth.

Detroit’s Cade Cunningham was fourth, followed by Brunson, Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic, Houston’s Kevin Durant and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard.

Gilgeous-Alexander, Brunson and Jokic are now the only players to get votes in the clutch balloting in all four seasons of the award’s existence.

Curry, Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Dallas’ Kyrie Irving saw their three-year streaks as clutch vote-getters end because of injuries; Curry missed about half the season, Tatum missed most of the season and Irving was sidelined for the entire season.

For a play to be considered clutch, by the NBA’s definition, these are the criteria: The score differential has to be five points or less, and the game has to be in either the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or in overtime.

All three of the leading vote-getters had compelling statistical arguments for the award:

— Gilgeous-Alexander led the league with 175 points in clutch times, plus was ninth with 21 assists in those situations. The Thunder went 20-7 in the 27 clutch games in which he played, and outscored opponents by 93 points in those clutch situations with him on the floor.

— Edwards shot 56.5% from the field in clutch moments, the best of any of the league’s 19 players that had at least 85 clutch-time points this season.

— Murray was second in clutch points with 166 plus led the league with 30 clutch-time assists.

The clutch award was the second to be handed out this season. San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama was the unanimous winner of Defensive Player of the Year, which was announced Monday.

“It’s just very meaningful to me,” Wembanyama said Tuesday about being the first unanimous winner of the DPOY trophy. “It means that’s there no place for debate. It means that everybody agrees upon something.”

On Wednesday, the Sixth Man of the Year winner — either the Spurs’ Keldon Johnson, the Nuggets’ Tim Hardaway Jr. or Miami’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. — will be revealed. The league’s Sportsmanship Award winner will be announced Thursday, followed by Most Improved Player on Friday.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press

by The Canadian Press

Gilgeous-Alexander wins NBA’s Clutch Player of Year award in landslide, topping Murray, Edwards

What's Trending