Gilgeous-Alexander tips his cap after Thunder fall to Spurs in Game 7 to end their title reign

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — When the season ended, and when his team's reign as NBA champions ended along with it, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tipped his cap.

The Oklahoma City guard — the back-to-back NBA Most Valuable Player — was great in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals. The San Antonio Spurs were greater. And that meant there won't be a repeat champion in the NBA this year.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points and was his normal brilliant self with an array of mid-range scores, paint attacks, even stepbacks over San Antonio's 7-foot-4 wall named Victor Wembanyama. It wasn't enough and Gilgeous-Alexander made no excuses.

“So many things go into it," Gilgeous-Alexander said when asked about the difficulty of winning a championship — and trying to go back-to-back. "Sometimes it’s like things you can’t control, sometimes it’s things you can control. Yeah, it’s a hard task to do one time, so to do it twice will only make it even more challenging.”

The Thunder played all season to have home-court advantage in Game 7 and got it by two games, winning 64 to San Antonio's 62. But the Spurs beat the Thunder four out of five in the regular season, then got four more out of seven in the West finals. And Oklahoma City, to be fair, was not at its best — with Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell out with injuries.

“Not to make any excuses, but they’re a really good team over there," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "And losing Ajay and Dub the way we did in the midst of a series, you would think it would be a lot harder for us.”

Oklahoma City looks like a team that is built to contend for years. So, too, do the Spurs. A rivalry seems very much born.

“Yeah, they’re young, they're talented, well-coached," Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Play the right way, play together, seems like they like each other. They have the makeup, for sure. You don’t beat us without the makeup and they beat us. They have the makeup to go get one.”

The Thunder will have some roster decisions to make and have multiple first-round picks to either use to add talent — or perhaps combine in a trade if they want to move up for a chance to draft a specific person.

Those decisions aren't for Gilgeous-Alexander to make. Canada is hoping he'll play a little bit of World Cup qualifying this summer — basketball's next World Cup is in 2027 — and he'll be looking to add to his game, as elite players always do.

“We just have to take it one day at a time from here on out,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. "Try to get better this summer, be a better team than we were this season — and try to get back over the hump.”

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Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) shoots against San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) in the second half of Game 7 of the Western Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs series Saturday, May 30, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) battles for a loose ball against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace (22) and guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) in the second half of Game 7 of the Western Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs series Saturday, May 30, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) looks to pass the ball as San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle defends during the second half of Game 7 of the Western Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs series Saturday, May 30, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander walks back to the team bench during the second half of Game 7 of the Western Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the San Antonio Spurs, series Saturday, May 30, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson, center, talks with Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) as Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault looks on during the second half of Game 7 of the Western Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs series Saturday, May 30, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

SINGAPORE (AP) — American allies stressed the need for unity at a top defense conference Sunday, saying that as threats increasingly transcend regions cooperation is more important than ever, even as Washington has become more critical of its traditional friends.

U.S. President Donald Trump has been extremely harsh about NATO, and the comments at the Shangri-La conference came the day after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth again chided Western European allies at the forum for not devoting enough resources to defense.

Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi praised Hegseth for his commitment to the Indo-Pacific, but at the same time stressed the continued need for strong coalitions globally.

“Division weakens deterrence, unity strengthens deterrence,” he told the conference, hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

“If gaps emerge among the United States, Europe, and allies and like-minded countries, forces which take it as an opportunity will surely come in,” he said. “We must prevent such as situation. We must keep our cooperation going on. Now is the time to make our cooperation even stronger.”

As China has been rapidly expanding and modernizing its military, Japan has been reshaping its own defense policy. Last month, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Cabinet scrapped a ban on lethal weapons exports, a major change in its postwar pacifist policy.

China criticized the change, with Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun saying China would “resolutely resist Japan’s reckless moves toward a new type of militarism.”

Koizumi scoffed at that accusation as ironic, coming from China.

“Think about it, there is a country that has a huge arsenal of nuclear weapons and strategic bombers,” he said, speaking in English. "Japan has neither of such weapons, and yet Japan is labeled new militarism. Isn’t it strange?”

He said that transparency comes from “discussion and dialogue” and lamented that China had not sent its defense minister to the conference.

In his speech Saturday, Hegseth applauded many Asian partners for their efforts to step-up defense spending, while reiterating criticism of European allies, who he suggested got “distracted by empty globalist rhetoric about the rules-based international order, while European capitals threw open their borders and hollowed out their militaries.”

“You can have all the rules you want and rules are great,” Hegseth said. “But if you can’t back them up with hard power, the rules are not worth the paper they are written on.”

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the conference Sunday, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles, said he agreed with Hegseth's point that “the rules based order needs to be underpinned by power,” but at the same time said strong rules were “more important today than they have ever been.”

“We are all committed to a rules based system, because that is actually what gives, middle powers like Australia or smaller countries agency,” he said.

He also said alliances remain critical to the region's defense.

“This is a collective challenge and it demands a collective response, which is actually what the rules based order is all about,” he said.

Netherlands Defense Minister Dilan Yesilgöz-Zegerius said the current conflicts have global implications and demand a shared response.

“A war in Europe involves drones from Iran, soldiers and ammunition from North Korea and various types of support from China,” she said. “The lesson is clear: regional tensions are no longer regional. Our security is interconnected.”

She said that if middle powers do not work together, they risk becoming spectators or the “subject of conversations,” but with coalitions they can help preserve stability.

“The fact that international rules are being violated does not mean we should abandon them,” she said.

"On the contrary, it means we must defend them more constantly and more courageously. International law may be imperfect, but history teaches us that the alternative is far worse.”

Malaysia's Defense Minister Dato' Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin delivers a speech during the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's annual defense and security forum, in Singapore, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gestures as he speaks during the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's annual defense and security forum, in Singapore, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

Philippine's Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro delivers his address during the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's annual defense and security forum, in Singapore, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

Japan's Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi delivers a speech during the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's annual defense and security forum, in Singapore, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

Japan's Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi delivers a speech during the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's annual defense and security forum, in Singapore, Sunday, May 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)