When Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the OKC Thunder squared off against the Phoenix Suns Sunday night, hardly anyone was surprised that the defending champions won in dominant fashion. What went viral, however, was SGA’s post-game comments about taking a lot of free throws.
Speaking in a matter-of-fact tone, Gilgeous-Alexander gave a simple explanation for his abundance of shots at the charity stripe.
“When you drive the ball a lot, you get fouled a lot just because most of the fouls happen on drives. And I drive the ball a lot, so that probably adds up to it.”
Far from being impressed with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s self-assessment, fans slammed the reigning MVP for supposedly not laying out the full picture.
“You also flop a lot”
“He get those calls and LeBron doesn’t”
“Curry Dont get these calls but Aii”
“He forgot to add FLOP to his response.”
“‘I drive a lot’ is elite PR for living at the line. Shai is a bucket, but that whistle be doing cardio too. Save this.”
“Translation: ‘when you flail your body and fall on the floor a lot you get a lot of fouls'”
In Game 1 of the Thunder-Suns series, Gilgeous-Alexander took 17 free throws, making all but two of them. In contrast, the entire Phoenix starting five combined for just 14 foul shots.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Preserves Impressive Streak at Home After Dropping 25 Points in Game 1 of Thunder-Suns Series
Despite the scathing criticism that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been putting up with for quite some time, he continues to put up lofty numbers in both the regular season and the playoffs.
According to ESPN Insights, his 25-point performance on Sunday was the 13th straight time that he put up 25+ points in a home playoff game.
With Gilgeous-Alexander playing at a high level, it’s likely that he’ll prolong this streak as this year’s postseason progresses.
