Shai Gilgeous-Alexander named 2025 Kentucky Sports Figure of the Year

2025 was the year of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

The former Kentucky men’s basketball guard turned NBA superstar was named the 2025 Lexington Herald-Leader Kentucky Sports Figure of the Year on Thursday. Out of 121 ballots cast by media members from all over the state, Gilgeous-Alexander was listed on 96 of them, receiving 45 first-place votes and 21 second-place votes. SGA, a native of Canada, becomes the first non-United States citizen to win the award.

For the first time in the 45-year history of this award, the majority of the 10 vote-getters (six) were women. Below is how the Top 10 shook out. Keep in mind that basketball players were voted on based on the entirety of the 2024-25 season.

1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (basketball)
2. Craig Skinner (volleyball)
3. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (women’s track and field)
4. Will Smith (baseball)
5. ZaKiyah Johnson (girls’ basketball)
6. Eva Hudson (volleyball)
7. Kenny Brooks (women’s basketball)
8. Dan Skirka (baseball)
9. Georgia Amoore (women’s basketball)
10. Malachi Moreno (boys’ basketball)

Gilgeous-Alexander was also named Sports Illustrated’s 2025 Sportsperson of the Year earlier this month.

Extra, extra, read all about it: Shai Gilgeous-
Alexander has been elected the 2025 Lexington Herald-Leader Kentucky Sports Figure of the Year https://t.co/Xd3LNsnxyx

— Mark Story (@markcstory) January 29, 2026

It was a historic 2024-25 campaign for Gilgeous-Alexander and his Oklahoma City Thunder. He was named league MVP, becoming the first Wildcat to ever do so, while also leading OKC to an NBA championship. His off-court impact within his local community was just the cherry on top.

Gilgeous-Alexander closed the 2024-25 season posting per-game averages of 32.7 points, 6.4 assists, five rebounds, 1.7 steals, and one block in 34.2 minutes. The 6-foot-6 point guard shot 51.9 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from deep, and 89.8 percent from the free-throw line. On top of being named MVP, he was named All-NBA First Team for the third straight season while finishing 10th in Defensive Player of the Year voting and eighth in Clutch Player of the Year voting.

Could he repeat as the Kentucky Sports Figure of the Year winner in 2026? He’s already off to a terrific start in the 2025-26 season. Gilgeous-Alexander is currently averaging 32 points, 6.2 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.3 steals in 33.5 minutes per outing for the first-place Thunder (38-10) on shooting splits of 55.4/38.9/89.3. He’s the odds-on favorite to win his second MVP award, and OKC is the favorite to repeat as champions.

Not bad for Quade Green’s former backup at Kentucky…