Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Thunder supermax extension details: NBA MVP’s $285,000,000 contract broken down

The OKC Thunder will keep their franchise superstar in town for years to come. On Tuesday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that OKC signed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to a four-year, $285 million super max contract extension.

It was an easy decision after watching him lead the league in scoring, win MVP and lead the team to their first NBA championship since they relocated to Oklahoma City.

As pointed out by ESPN salary cap expert Bobby Marks, this will be the richest deal in NBA history.

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Including his current and new extension, the defending Finals MVP is looking at a whopping $364 million in salary. He will make almost $80 million a year in the final season of his current deal.

To make it even more impressive, Gilgeous-Alexander will have an opportunity to sign another deal at some point in the future, as he will only be 32 years old by the time this extension runs out.

Here's his salary broken down by year.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's contract breakdown

The Thunder acquired Gilgeous-Alexander in the Paul George trade. The Los Angeles Clippers sent him, Danilo Gallinari, five first-round draft picks and the rights to swap two other first-round picks with the Thunder to get George.

Fast forward to today, and it's become quite evident that the Thunder got the long end of the stick in this transaction.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander credits hard work for recent success

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander just finished one of the single-greatest seasons in NBA history, winning the scoring title, MVP and Finals MVP.

When asked about this historical accomplishment, the Canadian combo guard said (according to Good Morning America):

“Yeah, it's hard for me to even wrap my head around. But it just goes to show like when you work hard, when you focus on the right things, when you take care of the right things, and you stick with that program for a certain amount of time, you can achieve anything.

“Most importantly, when you dream and go after it that anything is possible.”

Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder should be either at the top or near it for years to come, as the team is still young and will only add more talent to their roster due to Sam Presti's plethora of draft picks.

And while we haven't seen a repeat NBA champion in nearly a decade now, they should be the odds-on favorites to win the whole thing next season as well.

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About the author

Ernesto Cova

Ernesto Cova is a journalist at Sportskeeda with a PhD in Sports Psychology. His education helped him develop a clearer understanding of the sports world as a whole, including basketball. Ernesto has over eight years of experience in the field, working for Fadeaway World, The Inquisitr, NBA Blast, The Cold Wire and Bolavip, among others.

His favorite team is the Chicago Bulls because of the Michael Jordan era. Jordan is Ernesto's all-time favorite, as he changed the game forever. Ernesto's second favorite was Kobe Bryant because he embodied that same competitive fire and Ernesto watched him play throughout his entire career. Nowadays, Ernesto really likes Stephen Curry, who he believes to be the most influential player of the past 15 years or so.

Ernesto's favorite basketball moment was when Venezuela -- his country -- took down Canada to take home the 2015 FIBA Americas Cup.

When not watching or writing about basketball, Ernesto likes to read and is interested in photography.

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