Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is coming off a historic season last year after becoming only the fourth player in NBA history to win the regular season MVP, the scoring title, the NBA championship, and the Finals MVP in the same season. The other three players are Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and Shaquille O’Neal.
The Thunder have hit the ground running this season as they lead the Western Conference with a 15-1 record through the first 16 games of the season, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been a catalyst in making that happen. But just one championship does not truly put him among the elite list of players who have done it multiple times over the years.
According to former NBA champion Jeff Teague, if Shai Gilgeous-Alexander manages to lead the Thunder to another championship this season, a back-to-back for the franchise, then he would be in the same debate as Stephen Curry and Magic Johnson, which is being among the greatest point guards of all time.
On the latest episode of his show, ‘The Club 520 podcast’, Teague revealed his opinion on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and how he is just one achievement away from putting his name down in the debate for being in the Mt. Rushmore of NBA point guards.
“If he keeps putting up these same stats for another five years, he’s going to be Top-10,” said Jeff Teague.
“He’s better than Isiah Thomas if he does that,” said Teague when his co-host asked what if the Thunder won back-to-back seasons and Gilgeous-Alexander was the Finals MVP again.
“If he repeats what he did last year, back to back. It’s over with. He was right there behind Steph and Magic Johnson,” Teague further added.
“If he does that, he’s going to be in the same room as Stephen Curry and Magic Johnson; there’s only going to be those three in that room,” Teague said confidently in conclusion.
Gilgeous-Alexander is currently averaging 32.0 points, 6.5 assists, and 5.1 rebounds, while shooting 52.9% from the floor. He played in all 16 games for the Thunder this season. If he manages to repeat his achievements from last season, then I agree with Teague that he will pull himself into an elite class of NBA point guards.
The only other two guards who have achievements like these two would be Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, but considering that we are talking only in the context of point guards, he would definitely be one of the top five point guards of all time.
Some might contend, a second Finals MVP could put him on par with Stephen Curry. But rest assured, he’s still far away from being equal to those two players, let alone surpassing them. Curry’s four championships and Johnson’s five are big enough landmarks that are currently out of Gilgeous-Alexander’s reach in the near future.
