(Toronto) Basketball player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won the Northern Star Trophy as Canadian Athlete of the Year for 2023.
This title is awarded annually by the Toronto Star daily newspaper to the player who received the most votes from Canadian sports journalists. Gilgeous-Alexander is the second basketball player to earn this honor, following former star guard Steve Nash in 2005.
He beat Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid, RBC Canadian Open champion Nick Taylor, hammer throw specialist Camryn Rogers and swimmer Summer McIntosh in the voting.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who is from Hamilton, was instrumental in qualifying the Canadian basketball team for the 2024 Paris Olympics tournament at the recent FIBA World Cup.
He was named to the tournament all-star team after helping Canada upset the United States 127-118 in the bronze medal match.
Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 24.5 points per game at the World Cup, the fourth highest total among players involved in that competition. He also averaged 6.4 assists per game.
The 25-year-old was selected to the All-Star Game and to the NBA First All-Star Team for the first time in his career last year, when he posted averages of 31.4 points, 5.5 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Nash, Jamaal Magloire and Andrew Wiggins are the only other Canadian players to have been selected for the NBA All-Star Game. Nash (three times) is the only other representative of the maple leaf to have been named to the NBA’s first all-star team.
Gilgeous-Alexander has maintained the pace this season, averaging 30.5 points, 6.2 assists, 5.6 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game in 20 games with the Thunder in 2023-24.