OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's trophy case is a little more jammed.
A day after the Oklahoma City guard was revealed as the NBA's Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season, he received the Michael Jordan Trophy from Commissioner Adam Silver before Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Monday night.
It was the fourth individual trophy for Gilgeous-Alexander in just under a year — and three of those were hand-delivered by Silver.
“In the 80-year history of the NBA, only a few select players have won back-to-back MVPs,” Silver said in a brief on-court ceremony. “Shai, you now join that elite group. Congratulations.”
Gilgeous-Alexander hoisted the trophy for a few seconds, before placing it back on a table at midcourt so it could be carried off — by a person wearing white gloves.
Not counting the 2025 Western Conference Finals MVP award (which didn’t come from Silver), there was last year's MVP trophy, then the 2025 NBA Finals MVP award, and now this MVP trophy — all done at midcourt in Oklahoma City, with the roar of Thunder fans drowning out all other noises.
“There’s actually not a day that goes by that I'm not incredibly grateful for this team,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “I'm not out there dribbling the ball. We have a great team. And Shai’s a huge part of that, obviously, and the thing he leads the charge with is he’s a great guy. He's got a great makeup.”
Gilgeous-Alexander was honored with San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama standing nearby. The Thunder are facing the Spurs in the West title series; the 22-year-old Wembanyama, a first-time finalist for MVP, was third in the voting behind Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver's Nikola Jokic.
“I think Victor being in the top three for his age is remarkable,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “I also think very appropriate. It is well-earned and he’s done more than enough to earn that from the voters. I think Shai has had a remarkable year, a remarkable run, which extends past just this year. And I think the voters reflected that.”
The NBA redesigned many of its trophies and awards in 2022, including the MVP trophy — which is when it was named for Jordan.
The trophy is filled with nods to Jordan, including its height of 23.6 inches and its weight of 23.6 pounds — tributes to his jersey number and the six NBA championships he won with the Chicago Bulls.
It has a five-sided base, for Jordan's five MVP awards, and the base is set at a 15-degree angle — for Jordan's 15 seasons. The crystal basketball atop the statue has 23 points, and the namesake badge is six-sided for the six championships.
Gilgeous-Alexander is seeking his second title.
“The thing I appreciate most about him is not what he’s doing — he gets the MVP for what he does — but it’s how he does it,” Daigneault said. “That, to me, is most special.”
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NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, left, presents Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with the NBA MVP trophy before Game 1 in a third-round NBA basketball playoffs series against the San Antonio Spurs Monday, May 18, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, left, presents Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with the NBA MVP trophy before Game 1 in a third-round NBA basketball playoffs series against the San Antonio Spurs Monday, May 18, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday loosened federal rules that require grocery stores and air-conditioning companies to reduce greenhouse gases used in cooling equipment, a step President Donald Trump said would help lower grocery costs.
Trump, at a White House ceremony, said the action by the Environmental Protection Agency would “substantially lower costs for consumers” by delaying costly restrictions that limit the type of refrigerants U.S. businesses and families can use.
The move to relax the Biden-era rules on harmful pollutants known as HFCs emitted by refrigerators and other appliances was the latest attempt by the Trump administration to try to address rising voter concerns over the cost of living ahead of pivotal elections in November.
It is not clear how much or how quickly the loosening of the refrigerant rule might impact grocery prices. Industry groups said the move could even raise prices because manufacturers have already redesigned products, retooled factories and trained workers to build and service next-generation refrigerant equipment.
Inflation in the United States increased to 3.8% annually in April, amid price spikes caused by the Iran war and President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs. Inflation is now outpacing wage gains as the war has kept oil and gasoline prices high.
The Biden-era regulation was “unnecessary and costly and actually makes the machinery worse,” Trump said at a ceremony joined by top executives from Kroger, Piggly Wiggly and other grocery chains. The EPA action will protect hundreds of thousands of jobs and save Americans more than $2 billion a year, he said.
The Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, which represents more than 330 HVAC manufacturers and commercial refrigeration companies, said the change in approach would “inject uncertainty across the market” and could even raise prices.
“This rule works against basic supply and demand,” said Stephen Yurek, the group’s president and CEO. “By extending the compliance deadline” for phasing out hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, the administration “is maintaining and even increasing demand in the market for existing refrigerants while supply continues to fall.”
Manufacturers have already retooled product lines and certified models based on the existing timeline, Yurek said. Nearly 90% of residential and light commercial air conditioning systems use substitute refrigerants, rather than HFCs, he said.
The administration's action on refrigerants represents a reversal after Trump signed a law in his first term that aimed to reduce harmful, planet-warming pollutants emitted by refrigerators and air conditioners. That bipartisan measure brought environmentalists and major business groups into rare alignment on the contentious issue of climate change and won praise across the political spectrum.
The 2020 law reflected a broad bipartisan consensus on the need to quickly phase out domestic use of HFCs, greenhouse gases that are thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide and are considered a major driver of global warming.
The EPA action highlights the second Trump administration’s drive to roll back regulations perceived as climate friendly. The plan is among a series of sweeping environmental changes that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has said will put a “dagger through the heart of climate change religion.”
Environmentalists criticized the administration’s actions, saying the new rule would exacerbate climate pollution while disrupting a yearslong industry transition to new coolants as an alternative to HFCs.
The 2020 law signed by Trump, known as the American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, phased out HFCs as part of an international agreement on ozone pollution. The law accelerated an industry shift to alternative refrigerants that use less harmful chemicals and are widely available.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Chemistry Council, the top lobbying group for the chemical industry, were among numerous business groups that supported the law and an international deal on pollutants, known as the Kigali Amendment, as victories for jobs and the environment. U.S. companies such as Chemours and Honeywell developed and produce the alternative refrigerants sold in the United States and around the world.
The 2023 rule now being relaxed imposed steep restrictions on HFCs starting in 2026. Zeldin said the rule from the Democratic Biden administration did not give companies enough time to comply and that the rapid switch to other refrigerants caused shortages and price increases last year. Some in the industry dispute this.
The Food Industry Association, which represents grocery stores and suppliers, applauded the Trump EPA proposal last year, saying the earlier rule “imposed significant and unrealistic compliance timelines.”
Kevin McDaniel, Piggly Wiggly franchise owner, speaks during an event with President Donald Trump about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Kroger CEO Greg Foran speaks speaks during an event with President Donald Trump about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency administrator, listens as President Donald Trump speaks during an event about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
President Donald Trump speaks during an event about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
FILE - A shop owner reaches into a drink display refrigerator at his convenience store in Kent, Wash., Oct. 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
