VIDEO: Arkansas HC John Calipari shares candid courtside moment with NBA MVP Shai-Gilgeous Alexander

Arkansas Razorbacks coach John Calipari is still keeping his connections tight with his plethora of former players who have made it to the NBA. One of those is Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Before Game 2 of the 2025 NBA Finals on Sunday, the former Kentucky Wildcat shared a moment with his old mentor, Calipari.

The NBA on X posted an eight-second clip of Gilgeous-Alexander approaching Calipari at courtside. They then shared a hug before Calipari gave the 2024-25 NBA regular season MVP a friendly shove before they dapped up one last time as Gilgeous-Alexander returned to warmups.

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Gilgeous-Alexander previously had a one-and-done stint in 2017-18 under the tutelage of Calipari with the Wildcats. In his lone year, Gilgeous-Alexander tallied 14.4 markers, 4.1 boards, 5.1 dimes and 1.6 swipes a game.

They then finished the campaign with an overall record of 26-11, 10-8 during SEC play. Gilgeous-Alexander and co. made it all the way to the Sweet 16 of the 2018 NCAA national tournament, but were defeated by the Kansas State Wildcats.

With John Calipari in attendance, SGA and the Thunder will look to even up the NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers, who won a dramatic Game 1, 111-110.

John Calipari posted a heartfelt message on X when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won the 2025 NBA MVP award

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When Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named the 2024-25 NBA regular season MVP on May 21, John Calipari sent a heartfelt message through his X account to congratulate his former player.

The tenured tactician claimed that this was all the fruits of Gilgeous-Alexander's hard work, as Calipari experienced how hard he works when they were still with the Wildcats.

"I’m so proud of Shai. He earned the MVP through his work, competitive spirit, championship demeanor, along with being a GREAT TEAMMATE!!! Congrats @shaigalex," Calipari captioned.

Gilgeous-Alexander won the MVP award over Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic after he posted stellar averages of 32.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks per contest.

He led the Oklahoma City Thunder to a historically successful season with a 68-14 record as they claimed the No. 1 overall seed in the league and homecourt advantage throughout the 2025 NBA playoffs.

About the author

Koby del Rosario is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda who took up BS in Advertising Management at De La Salle University, one of the big "four" universities in the Philippines. Koby has over four years of experience with Complex PH, M2.0 Communications, The LaSallian, Daily Tribune, and Time Attack Manila.

Koby's favorite college team would have to be the North Carolina Tar Heels. Apart from being MJ's alma mater, Koby has always been fond of the Jordan silhouettes that release in the school's colors (being a sneakerhead himself).

His past favorite college players would have to be Russell Westbrook (UCLA) and Markelle Fultz (Washington). With Russ, his 1-2 punch with Kevin Love during their UCLA days was something Koby marveled at as Russ became his favorite player to watch post-Kobe.

Besides playing basketball, Koby enjoys nightlife, collecting sneakers, and playing video games. Apart from hosting parties and taking pictures for parties/bars/clubs, Koby is learning to DJ as a hobby with all sorts of house and hip-hop as the main genres.

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Edited by Brad Taningco