Everybody Hates Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might be the most hated MVP the NBA has seen in years. They say he's a flopper, a free throw merchant, a foul baiter who carries the ball and plays unethical basketball. Fans call him the most boring MVP ever and can't stand watching him beat [music] their favorite teams. Coaches have complained about him. Um, and then, you know, you can't really touch Shai. Other players can't stand him. Little frail. His entire style of play has become a league-wide punchline. Give it over to SGA. Hell yeah, bro. And now everybody sitting around him is in foul trouble. But is that hate actually fair? And is he really exploiting the rule book in an unethical way? Or are his free throws a product of skill and the number of drives to the basket, an area where he led the NBA five times in the last six years. Shai is not the first person [music] to push people off before attempting a jump shot. He's also not the only superstar to flop, exaggerate fouls, and demand foul calls from [music] referees. And, somewhat surprisingly, SGA has never led the NBA in free throw attempts. So, why do people still hate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander? When the Clippers traded SGA to OKC in the Paul George deal, they are sending to Oklahoma City, uh, essentially a record collection of draft picks and outstanding rookie point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Everybody thought it was a good trade for the Clippers, especially since they also acquired Kawhi Leonard. Even though Shai had a promising rookie season, no one could have predicted that he would become a two-time MVP. [music] You join an exclusive illustrious list of NBA legends who have won back-to-back [music] MVP awards. >> And that he'd break Wilt Chamberlain's record for most consecutive 20-point games. But, under the tutelage of Chris Paul, Shai averaged 19 points per game in his first season in Oklahoma. And after CP3 [music] left, Gilgeous-Alexander became the new leader of the Thunder. Despite OKC being in a rebuild, Shay averaged 24 points and six assists per game across the 2021 and 2022 seasons, [music] even though he missed significant time due to various injuries. And while the Thunder were losing, their GM, Sam Presti, kept acquiring draft picks like Infinity Stones, setting the groundwork for one of the most incredible turnarounds in NBA history. Even though the Thunder had very little continuity with players coming and going like a revolving door, one thing was constant: SGA and his continuous improvement. The Canadian point guard wasn't the quickest, certainly not the strongest, and he wasn't a particularly good three-point shooter, either. Still, during the 2023 season, Shay averaged 31.4 points, the fourth highest mark in the league, along with 5.5 assists, 1.6 steals, and one block per game. Out of his 31.4 points, only 8% came from three-pointers, as Shay attempted fewer than three 3s per game. But, SGA led the league in two-point attempts. He led the NBA in drives to the basket by a big margin, and yet, he was only third in free throw attempts, behind Giannis and Joel Embiid. Even though he attempted 10.9 freebies per game, which he converted at 90.5%, nobody was accusing Shay of being a free throw merchant, despite ranking 45th all-time for a season with most free throw attempts. Over the next 3 years, SGA was again the league leader in drives in every season except 2026, when he was overtaken by Jaylen Brown. But, he didn't lead the league in free throws once, and his attempts have actually decreased, [music] with SGA attempting two free throws less than in 2023. But now, everybody calls him a free throw merchant, >> [cheering] >> despite attempting fewer shots from the line. So, how is that possible? The first part of the answer is winning. When the Thunder was struggling, nobody was paying much attention to a guy scoring points on a young, up-and-coming team that didn't even make the playoffs. But, when he started getting MVP considerations, There's a brother this year that I [music] think has been vastly ignored. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. And when the Thunder started to make noise in the playoffs, the first chatter about his flopping started. In 2025, when he won the MVP and led his team to the NBA championship, the foul baiting chatter got even louder. In fact, it got so loud that the ESPN announcer Doris Burke called him a free throw merchant on live TV. It's the reason NBA Twitter likes to call him the free throw merchant, Mike. Anthony Edwards also complained about the calls Shai was getting. It's hard to, man, with the calls that Shai gets. It's hard. It's hard. It's hard to shut him down. Can't touch him at any time of the game. >> And so [clears throat] did his coach, Chris Finch. Um and then, you know, you can't really touch Shai. So, are they all right? Or is Shai just a smart player that exploits the lenient rule book imposed by the NBA, which is focused on protecting the offensive player more than a defender? In a way, both [music] are true. Shai has become a master of drawing contact due to his unique style of play. The level of flexibility and deceleration Shai possesses is uncanny, and at times it seems like his leg is almost parallel to the ground before he stops and creates separation for a jump shot. Does he often use his arm to extend that separation with a slight shove? Yes. Is this legal? Also, yes. So, Shai does create contact here and leverage, but I feel like that's marginal. And I I feel like Shai's a master at how much leverage he can create. >> He's so damn good at that. Shai has mastered the art of knowing what's an offensive foul and what's only a bump. And because he isn't relying on speed and athleticism to simply blow by defenders, from a very early age, Shai became the master of angles and the change of pace to keep opponents off balance. Good Shai. Good change of pace. SGA's elasticity is often compared to Novak Djokovic, the greatest tennis player of all time. Shai adopted the mechanics of a tennis slide to decelerate, angling his shin and ankle such that he can use the side of his foot as a brake system. And he's the best in the NBA when it comes to stopping after going at full speed. That is his ultimate athletic gift, the balance he maintains [music] on the edge of falling down almost on every single possession. And that's not a coincidence. After the Orlando bubble, Shay started training with Nem Ilich, [music] a personal trainer from his hometown. Ilich has focused their workouts on explosive multi-directional lunges, extending the legs at a 45-degree angle, which mirrors the angle that Shay would naturally be in when executing a [music] step back. Shay also started running barefoot to strengthen the ligaments in his feet, which improved his balance and coordination. Along with a ton of stuff using resistance bands. And all workouts are designed to strengthen his core and legs, which allows Shay to play at angles that just aren't accessible to other players. And that's why when SGA's forward momentum forces defenders to slide back upon contact in an almost simultaneous motion, Gilgeous-Alexander is already slamming his brakes to create an enormous window of separation, which is a [music] big part of why he became one of the best mid-range shooters in NBA history. In 2026, 50% of all of Shay's shots came from mid-range. And he converted them at an elite level, 54% on 9.7 attempts per game. This is 10 percentage points higher than the NBA average. And due to his volume and efficiency, he had one of the best mid-range shooting seasons in NBA history. For example, Kobe Bryant's career mid-range efficiency was 42%, 1 percentage point lower than the league average today. And Kobe was considered the mid-range master. But in today's game, the mid-range is what defenses will give you more easily than the three-pointer. And Kobe played in an era where the NBA was at its most physical. So, that's not really a fair comparison. Still, even though he plays in today's game where the offensive player is massively protected, and even though SGA exploits those rules to the fullest, his effectiveness can't be denied. I mean, he's got you in jail. He can shoot off the bounce, he can finish, he can pass. So, what do you do if you're a defender? You play too tight, he can go by you. You try to stay tight enough and strong enough that you can absorb the step back. Now, he can go and draw fouls because you're over playing him. He's got you in a position where however you decide to guard him, he has a counter. And due to Shai's volume of drives to the basket, unique skill set that allows him to stop on a dime better than anyone, his nine free throws per game are actually not that much. Does SGA flop sometimes? He does. Does he exaggerate contact and bump into people on purpose? >> [music] >> Of course. He also gets away with traveling SGA kept the pivot foot down on the backboard. and off-arm shoves. And the optics of his game are not always fun to watch. But this is all strategically sound basketball on SGA's part. Why shouldn't he try to get to the line when he sees the opportunity to do so? Or get the opponents into foul trouble? He's doing everything in his power to help his team win within the rules as they're enforced. So long as the concepts of fouls and free throws exist, players are going to look for loopholes to exploit [music] them. James Harden did it best and others followed, mainly Trae Young and Joel Embiid. Oh, man. Come on, man. Even Steph Curry, the golden child of the NBA, was sometimes leaning into opponents to get a foul call before the league changed the rules in 2021 with the intent to stop abrupt or abnormal non-basketball moves by offensive players in an effort to draw fouls. The new rules are having an impact across the league this season. Teams are averaging just 20 free throw attempts per game thus far. Before he became the Lakers head coach, JJ Redick talked about this on his podcast and how the best players in the league always shot a ton of free throws. Michael Jordan, seven to [music] 12 free throws a game. Kobe Bryant, six to 10 free throws a game. Barkley, seven to 12 free throws a game. David Robinson, eight [music] to 12 free throws a game. Shaq, of course, Hack-a-Shaq, nine to 13 free throws a game. Embiid, right now in his prime, eight and a half to 12 free throws a game. Durant, six to 10 free throws a game. Harden, seven to 12 free throws a game. And then, of course, Wilt, 17 free throws a game. In the last couple of seasons, all NBA players had an average free throw rate of 42%, meaning they attempted 42% as many free throws as field goals. For comparison, the overall average for all NBA players in league history is 40% suggesting that modern stars aren't receiving more calls than their predecessors did. Foul baiting and foul calls will always be a cat and mouse game between the superstars, defenders, and the refs. Players are smart and will exploit the boundaries of the rules to steal free points. It's just human nature and SGA is no different. But the big reason people hate SGA and the Thunder is the disparity in how the refs treat the Thunder on offense versus defense. They have a guy fall down and trip on his own teammates foot. They review us for a hostile act. The least that they could do is get the same respect that everybody else in this league gets and get refereed the same way that everybody else in this league gets ref'd. Defensively, OKC players are extremely physical with a lot of holding and grabbing. Caruso and Dort in particular are constantly committing small fouls. And the mentality of the team seems to be that the refs can't call every small foul they commit, especially if several players are committing those fouls at the same time. On the other hand, Shai truly does get a lot of favorable whistles. And that's why some people consider him and the Thunder to be sort of like a teacher's pet. SGA and Oklahoma City Thunder, they don't complain about calls. This is why THEY'RE SO GREAT. AND THERE are plenty of fans and people involved with the league who are not happy with the way the game is officiated. During the first round of the 2026 playoffs, the Suns players Dillon Brooks and Devin Booker openly [music] complained about the favorable calls that the OKC players were getting. I I don't know if you're aware of this, but even the broadcast was confused by your tech. What was the explanation that you got? Uh I still haven't got one. It's definitely something that has to be looked into. I heard Caruso tell him to call the tech and you know, he ended up doing it. >> Steve Kerr went on a rant. I have a problem with the way we're we are um legislating defense out of the game. That's what we're doing in the NBA. The way we're teaching the officials, we're just enabling players to BS their way to the foul line. SGA and the Thunder became the Goliath of the NBA. And all people have a natural inclination to root for David against Goliath. It's easy to see why people dislike OKC, but that's not their fault or their concern. The NBA wanted to create an offensive league with less emphasis on defense. And even though some people may think otherwise, Tell me this is not a charge. He's there. [music] He's been there for like 10 years. The ref sees it, he goes down. What the hell? Like What the hell? It's a level playing field for everyone. It's not SGA's job to think about the league product and how entertaining the game is for customers of that product. His job is to win games and he is damn good at his job. Gilgeous-Alexander doesn't have elite athleticism, but he maxed out his skill set and unique advantages to become one of the best scores of all time. SGA averaged over 30 points per game in the last four seasons. And [music] he broke Wilt's record with 127 consecutive games with 20 points or more. Congratulations. Round of applause today. Passing Wilt for the longest 20-point streak in NBA history. You don't do that just by foul baiting. And his skills should be celebrated. And if you don't like some of the foul calls he gets, we understand as those kinds of fouls would never get called on the playground. But hey, don't hate the player, hate the game. Thank you for watching. And if you like this video, we have another one for you right here.