Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has come under the microscope of public scrutiny ever since he became a name constantly used in the MVP award discussion. And two days ago, he finally secured his first Michael Jordan MVP award. He led the league in scoring but also had the second-most free throws drawn after Giannis Antetokounmpo.
He has therefore come under a lot of scrutiny since his playing style displays drawing fouls as equivalent to a form of art. So much so that opposing coaches have even called him a ‘foul artist’. A former NBA champion, Richard Jefferson, was on LeBron James’ 2016 Cavaliers team. He claims he spoke to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander about what he feels about this free-throw criticism.
Jefferson said, “I’ve done a million interviews, we’ve done a million on this podcast, we’ve been in locker rooms with hall of famers. Shai is one of the most impressive people that I’ve talked to. So we’re doing the whole interview, I go to ask him, I’m like ‘So you know there’s a lot of conversation about (his free throws)’ and he smiles so big he goes ‘I love it!'”
He further added, “This is again cerebral, he says it with a smile which is so engaging [to Channing’s point]. He goes, ‘You know what’s crazy about it? Two years ago, I averaged almost 11 free throws a game, but we finished 10th, and no one cared. Now I’m averaging nine free throws, averaging less free throws than I did then.’ and he goes It just means that they care. When I wasn’t sending their best-favourite player home and I wasn’t sending their team home, then no one cared that I was shooting 11 free throws a night and scoring this amount of points. Now that I’m doing it and I’m averaging nine free throws, the whole world is exploding about it, he’s just like I love it! It just means they’re thinking about me.’ So all of the conversation and all of the people that are upset know that this man loves it. He smiles when he talks about it, that to me is the type of sickoes that we love.”
Deeper Dive Into Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Free Throw Stats
While data has exposed that SGA’s performance in the Playoffs would not be anywhere close to Anthony Edwards’ standard, what makes SGA stand apart is consistency throughout the regular season. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 8.8 free throw attempts per game in the regular season, out of which he made 7.9 on average.
Therefore, of the 32.7 points per game he averaged, he made 8 points from the free-throw line and 25 from the field. Which, in comparison, is not that much to other MVPs. SGA ranks 27th all-time in free throw attempts averaged in a season by an MVP winner. Even players like LeBron James (13th and 24th rank), Kevin Durant (19th rank), Russell Westbrook (12th rank), James Harden (15th rank), Shaquille O’Neal (11th rank), and even Michael Jordan (8th rank) had more free-throw attempts during their MVP seasons than Gilgeous-Alexander this season. If the volume is not the problem, then is the criticism warranted?
What seems to be misunderstood here is that SGA is not under scrutiny for the number of times he goes to the free-throw line, but for what he does to get there in the first place. He initiates contact, falls over nothing, and yet gets calls in his favor with minimal or even no contact in the incident. Seeing that happen on multiple occasions has led the fans and coaches to believe that SGA gets a special whistle that no other player in the league does.
Do you believe Gilgeous-Alexander gets a special whistle and benefits from biased treatment from the officials? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
