Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tearfully thanks wife during MVP speech

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was moved to tears during his MVP award speech Wednesday night when he acknowledged his wife, Hailey Summers.

After he thanked his teammates, support staff, management, family and friends, the 26-year-old Canadian focused on the woman he married in February 2024.

“Thank you so much,” he said as he looked at her from a podium. “Thank you for everything you are — for me, for our son, Ares. You were the first person to show me what love really meant ... what sacrifice really meant. And I can’t wait to spend the rest of this journey called life with you. Thank you very much. I wouldn’t be the man I am, I wouldn’t be the player I am, I wouldn’t be the father I am, without you. Thank you.”

The moment revived memories of former Thunder star Kevin Durant's speech in 2014, when he tearfully called his mother, Wanda Durant, "the real MVP."

Gilgeous-Alexander spoke without notes and held it together when he thanked his teammates.

“I can’t say enough how much you guys mean to me, and not only as a basketball player, but as family,” he said. "I know you guys know that we do everything together, on and off the court, we do shopping, we eat. You guys are really like my brothers ... Without you guys, none of this would be possible. I want you guys to know that this award is your award, too.”

The ceremony was held at the Thunder ION facility where the team practices. The whole team was on the stage with him sporting the Rolex watches he bought them and wearing black shirts with his image and MVP in red letters on the front.

Gilgeous-Alexander will receive the trophy on the court before Game 2 of the Western Conference finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday.

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Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, left, meets with his wife, Hailey Summers, and their son Ares Alexander following Game 1 of an NBA basketball Western Conference Finals playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves Tuesday, May 20, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s motorcade took a different route than usual to the airport as he was departing Florida on Sunday due to a “suspicious object,” according to the White House.

The object, which the White House did not describe, was discovered during security sweeps in advance of Trump’s arrival at Palm Beach International Airport.

“A further investigation was warranted and the presidential motorcade route was adjusted accordingly,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Sunday.

The president, when asked about the package by reporters, said, “I know nothing about it.”

Trump left his Palm Beach, Florida, club, Mar-a-Lago, around 6:20 p.m. for the roughly 10-minute drive to the airport, but took a circular route around the city to get there.

During the drive, police officers on motorcycles created a moving blockade for the motorcade, at one point almost colliding with the vans that accompanied Trump.

Air Force One was parked on the opposite side of the airport from where it is usually located and the lights outside the plane were turned off.

Anthony Guglielmi, the spokesman for U.S. Secret Service, said the secondary route was taken just as a precaution and that “that is standard protocol.”

President Donald Trump departs Trump International Golf Club in the presidential limousine, known as The Beast, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)