Usually, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s trainer will marvel on how his client masters his on-court play and his strength-training workouts.
This time, Nem Ilic saw Gilgeous-Alexander struggled to navigate the San Antonio Spurs’ suffocating defense. During the Thunder’s 122-115 loss to the Spurs in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 24 points, 12 assists, and four turnovers while shooting only 7-for-23 from the field and 2-for-7 from 3-point range.
Ilic, the founder of UNLKD, expects Gilgeous-Alexander to perform much differently in Game 2 with his shooting touch and with handling Victor Wembanyama’s rim presence.
Ilic spoke extensively with Fadeaway World on why he expects Gilgeous-Alexander to play better in Game 2 on Wednesday and how Wembanyama challenged him. Ilic also dished on other topics: Gilgeous-Alexander’s second consecutive MVP season, the ‘free-throw merchant tag” and his offseason workouts.
Editor’s note: The following one-on-one conversation has been edited and condensed.
What do you take away from Game 1?
Ilic: “It’s going to be a series, that’s for sure. We spoke after the game. They went through it last year two times, both against Denver and Indiana. It’s funny how things work. Once another team wins the first game, then it’s all like, ‘Oh, are they good enough to take down San Antonio? Is [Nikola] Jokić going to beat Shai in the second round last year? Is Indiana going to win the Finals?’ I feel like it gets a little bit blown a little bit out of proportion. It was one game. There was definitely a lot to improve on. But for someone of Shai’s level, he was nowhere near himself anyways. So I’m excited for Game 2.”
What do you expect for Game 2?
Ilic: “I expect him to bounce back like he always has. Obviously, San Antonio is a little bit of a different team. They have the ability to throw some different things at him. They have probably the greatest rim protector that we’ve seen. But I also think that Shai is good enough of a player that he will know how to make an adjustment to get more shots off and better shots. He still missed quite a bit in Game 1. I’m sure they made it a little bit tougher. But he’s good enough and has shown through his consistency that he doesn’t really do that twice in a row. He knows how to have a bounce-back game.”
Compared to other opponents, what did you notice how San Antonio defended him and how Shai tried to handle it?
Ilic: “They definitely have individual guys that are athletic enough to create some trouble. It’s a lot different when he does drive and you have Wemby down there protecting. Watching him in person for the first time, it changes everything. It’s a completely different game. You have to think about driving and what shot you’re going to throw up. That’s what gives the Spurs their unique ability to really make it tough for guys to score on them. Shai is the guy that you’re going to scout against. He’s the one you’re going to gameplan. So from the Spurs’ standpoint, they did their job and made it tough for him. But I think he will definitely bounce back.”
Big picture, what has gone into Shai having another MVP season while dealing with even more defensive attention?
Ilic: “That’s the thing that impresses me. He gets to that level, and now he’s the main guy and everybody is trying to stop him. The way he has fought through every game this season day in and day out, he continues to produce and continues to do what he does. He finds ways to get better. Obviously with going through that run last year, that is the ultimate goal this year, too. You still have to go through the regular season. But at this time of year when people are chasing us and trying to hunt us down, how is that going to be? They obviously started very well with going 8-0 in the playoffs. But this is a lot tougher opponent right now. But he continues to still do what he does day in and day out. He’s not too fazed by it. He’s experienced it twice last year. So you can’t get too down on it. It’s a best-of-seven series for a reason. There is a high probability this series will go the length. So it’s just about finding some sort of adjustment to make in every game. That’s what’s going to happen.”
What do you think gave Shai the edge for the MVP award over other candidates, such as Jokić and Wemby?
Ilic: “There was team success as well. He had missed a portion of games this year. But when he’s there, you see how much he’s able to produce. But it’s tough because a lot of their games, they win by a lot. So if you just look at the stats, I feel like it doesn’t show the big picture. But whenever they were in games that came down to the wire, there is a reason that he won ‘Clutch Player of the Year.’ He had the most clutch points in the league and he barely played in the fourth quarter. That just shows you that when the time is there, he’s going to be there even though he’s not getting that experience every night because they are winning by so much and so often. But to me, that shows to me that he is constantly in that zone and ready to finish. He does whatever it takes to win.”
What do you make of Wemby seeming to play with a chip against Shai after losing the MVP award to him?
Ilic: “Wemby is special and had a great game. I honestly expected it. He’s there and watching Shai get his trophy. So I’m sure that, based off of what I’ve heard and how he speaks about it, it means something to him. He definitely wants it. So watching that must have motivated him a little bit more and gave him a little bit extra inspiration. I definitely felt like during that entire game that they had control of the game. They made it tough for OKC and for Shai. But it’s a long series. It’s going to be fun.”
Even for opponents that get frustrated with the calls, many have praised Shai for how he draws fouls. But for those that view him as a ‘free-throw merchant,’ what do you think they are missing on what he does to get to the line?
Ilic: “There’s a lot. But at the end of the day, if you actually sit down and watch the game, you will see the reality. It’s because of his skill. If it was such a thing that anybody could do, everybody would do it. All of the greats before would’ve done it. I grew up a massive Kobe [Bryant] fan. Nobody really talked about Kobe shooting 8-10 free throws per game. He’d pump fake, pump fake and then jump into the defender. Nobody used that as him being a ‘free-throw merchant.’ There are plenty of games where Shai is shooting 14-for-20 from the field and getting eight free throws. How are you going to stop that?
I think the ‘free-throw merchant’ thing is a social media thing. You can just run with it. But people don’t actually take into account what he’s doing or look at the numbers or the averages. OKC is actually toward the bottom half of free-throws attempted per game during the playoffs. So it’s such a social media thing. I just ignore it. It’s funny, though.”
Coming off last year’s NBA title run, how did the work Shai did with you in the offseason compare to other years?
Ilic: “Prior to this past summer, he was so accustomed during his whole career with having four or five months of the offseason. He was finishing the season in April or May. So my biggest thing since they’re at this level and assuming playoff runs will go down in late May and late June, it’s about making sure that his body can withstand that. For a guy at his level, a lot of our stuff now is not about whether he can increase his vertical jump or if we can make him faster. My job is, ‘How can I do my part to keep him on the floor so he can do what he doe?’
A big part of it was keeping his body in a decompressed state. Playing basketball, in general, is not a natural thing. It takes a big toll on the body. You combine that with the travel and life in general. So it’s about what tools can I give him to help him decompress through all of that and give his body the length and space to be able to operate at a high level. That was the biggest thing last summer. With the long run, we had a few weeks off before we got back into it to make sure that by the time he sees me, he’s feeling 100%. That was my biggest priority every summer.”
Were you guys working out in your garage like you had in other years?
Ilic: “It used to be at my garage, which is at my parents’ house. Now he moved a little bit further away. So he decided to build a gym at his house. Last year, it was in the garage while the gym was being built. That should be ready to go this year. So it will be in his backyard area in a sidepiece gym. But we don’t change that.”
You’ve said you try to help with Shai’s durability and strength, while not hurting his ability to move and contort his body. What drills do you all do that allows you all to find that sweet spot for him?
Ilic: “He has a different build than a lot of guys. He has more of a sprinter’s build. He’s very athletic and is in a narrower kind of stance. He doesn’t have a wide body. So for me to be like, ‘Shai, we have to put on 20 pounds of muscle, I’d be doing him a disservice. That would change the entirety of his body with how he moves. So as we built the strength up in his early years and he was still maturing into his body, he’s at a strength level where he can take shoulder bumps and produce at his size. So it’s about, ‘How can I keep him on the court day in and day out to minimize the risk of injury?’ We don’t do a lot of the traditional stuff. His strength is already high. So the focus is more so on helping his body to still do the stuff that he does with the way he moves and having the load properly.”
Can you paint a picture on what it’s like for Shai to complete lunges, squats, planks and weighted sleds outside your garage?
Ilic: “I’ve gotten used to it. But with the sled, we’re pushing outside of my garage. Last year, we did it outside of his garage. Naturally, there are people in the summer walking by and seeing us. Now they see more and more. They see Shai just casually pushing a sled up outside of his doorway. It’s interesting for a guy at his level just pushing a sled on a random street. In prior years, it was Hamilton. Now, it’s in another city in Ontario. I don’t know how to describe it. But it’s definitely unique. For us, it’s the norm. It’s what we’ve been doing for the past eight years. So it doesn’t really feel like anything more until people start to bring it up.”
Shai using Ares as weight during his warmups 🤣
(via unlkdnem/IG) pic.twitter.com/FapPS6Plcb
— Cooper Jones (@CooperJNBA) July 18, 2025
You posted someworkouts videos of Shai lifting his son. What was it like to see that moment?
Ilic: “Honestly, that was special. It’s just watching his growth during our relationship for the past eight years. It’s watching his growth essentially as a teenager to a young man and to now a father. It’s been pretty special to watch. That’s the stuff that makes me proud of him. It really shows who he is and how much he cares. Especially now that he’s with his son, it’s fun to watch his growth and see how much he means to him. Last summer, his son was just about a year old. So he was picking him up and he was there during his workouts. Now this summer, I can already imagine it’s going to be a little bit different. Instead of picking him up, it’s now running around and jumping. That’s special.”
You’ve done work with Shai on his bump stepback. What has that entailed?
Ilic: “I wouldn’t say that there is anything specific for the stepback. It’s more of a combination of when we’re doing that stuff, he’s loading properly. That’s in coordination to make his change of direction and his stop better and quicker than the defender. That’s what allows him to transfer his weight better. With basketball, whatever move you make, it’s about how you are transferring your weight from one side to the other, whether it’s a crossover or a step back. The better ability you have to transfer your weight over, the harder it is for the defender to match that. You’re dictating where they’re going. They have to react. That’s where that stuff comes from. Since that’s a big part of his game, we’re working on from a mechanical standpoint how he does his stuff. Then you let him do what he does on the court.”
You’ve noted that Shai initially struggled to do a pushup and a plank. What perspective can you give on what he was like physically then and what he’s like now?
Ilic: “It’s night and day. I don’t say that lightly. I don’t know if he could go past 10 pushups after his rookie season. It shocked me. I thought, ‘How is a guy like this playing at that level?’ This is grown men. He’s going up against LeBron James, and he can’t even do five pushups. He’s come a long way. A lot of that also has been his body maturing and essentially growing into itself a little bit later. But he was still very scrawny during that year. Over the next two or three years, I’ve seen a quick change both because of the work that we did and his natural growth. That led to where he is with his body.”
What is Shai’s weight this season, and how does it compare to last?
Ilic: “I know he hangs around somewhere in the mid 190s. In that first year that we started, he was probably around 180 or 178. He was very light. You could see it.”
Overall, what has the added strength done for his game?
Ilic: “It helps with the way he plays and how he uses his body to create contact in a way that gives him an advantage. He uses other people’s strength and contact against him essentially. A lot of this happened because we didn’t force him just to try to get as big as possible. We let his body do his thing. With that, it’s easier to use that strength as opposed to if we were just going to have him pack on 15 pounds in one offseason predominately in the upper body.
The biggest change has been in his legs. We’ve looked at it and joked about it. It looks like they’ve doubled in size with his thighs. The strength there has been immense. As a basketball player, you’re on your feet. So that’s what you need the most. The stronger your legs are, the better that they operate and function. Then the better you are when it comes to changing direction, stopping on a dime and being able contort his body. Those are all big parts of his game.”
Mark Medina is an NBA contributor to Fadeaway World. Follow him on X, Blue Sky, Instagram, Facebook and Threads.
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