# 2025 Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sports-illustrated-sportsperson-of-the-year/1022983>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Tags:** basketball-nba\
**Created:** [September 12, 2025, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sports-illustrated-sportsperson-of-the-year/1022983 "2025-09-12T15:27:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sports-illustrated-sportsperson-of-the-year/1022983/61 "2026-01-02T15:26:31Z")

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OK, granted I’m not the biggest sports fan, but when it’s a player I’ve never heard of from a team I’ve never heard of, that’s kind of a bad sign.

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**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sports-illustrated-sportsperson-of-the-year/1022983/62 "2026-01-02T16:19:49Z")

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Go back to post 8 by me for his accomplishments, he said gloatingly.

NBA, you’ve heard of them?  
Oklahoma Thunder NBA Champs.  
MVP for the season, the conference finals, the finals.  
NBA scoring leader, defense too, steals leader.

Yeah, Otani had a great game. He was not a leader in any MLB category.

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**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2026, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sports-illustrated-sportsperson-of-the-year/1022983/63 "2026-01-05T05:29:42Z")

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> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#):
>
> Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder? Is SI just that afraid of giving it to a baseball player who just happens to be from Japan?

Well, for once they gave it to a non-American, by themselves. First time in over 40 years.

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**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2026, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sports-illustrated-sportsperson-of-the-year/1022983/64 "2026-01-05T05:47:36Z")

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> [@Chronos](#):
>
> OK, granted I’m not the biggest sports fan, but when it’s a player I’ve never heard of from a team I’ve never heard of, that’s kind of a bad sign.

I think that never having heard of the Thunder says more about you than it does about the award.

> [@smithsb](#):
>
> Yeah, Otani had a great game. He was not a leader in any MLB category.

I’m not a baseball guy, but I know enough to know this is deliberately… downplaying Ohtani. He’s unprecedented; elite pitcher and batter in the same season. Babe Ruth wasn’t that. People think he’s the best baseball player of all time. I dunno about that, but it’s certainly not because of just one game.

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**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\
**Post date:** [January 5, 2026, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sports-illustrated-sportsperson-of-the-year/1022983/65 "2026-01-05T06:52:01Z")

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> [@Snarky\_Kong](#):
>
> I think that never having heard of the Thunder says more about you than it does about the award.

Agreed. They used to be the Seattle Supersonics. They’ve been the Thunder since 2008.

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