As a two-time MVP and NBA champion, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is on pace to become one of the NBA’s biggest stars of the modern era. As it stands, he’s also on pace to become one of the most controversial.
Despite his success on the court, Shai has been widely criticized for his foul-baiting antics, which made him the NBA’s leading free-throw shooter this season (540 points at the line in 2025-26). While some fans use foul baiting to discredit Shai, Draymond Green came to his defense (among others), calling on the community to appreciate his greatness.
“I’ve been baffled watching people talk about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He didn’t just win back-to-back MVPs, which is the best basketball league in the world by a long shot,” said Green. “There’s not a close second. And this guy, who has been number one, hands down, the last two years, we’re really gonna try to discredit him, and act like it’s all because he flopped. You all think the NBA is that easy, where this guy just flops and goes to the free throw line, and he becomes like the back-to-back MVP in this league. We’re really going to dumb the NBA down to that. That’s a shame. It’s actually sickening.”
It’s no secret that Shai goes out of his way to sell contact and get to the free-throw line. Out of all his peers, he falls with the most frequency, a clear attempt to trick officials into calling a foul. The result has been a dominant season for Shai, with averages of 31.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game on 55.3% shooting and 38.6% shooting from three. He’s one of the best we’ve ever seen in this category, and it’s led to a historic run that has the Thunder on the verge of a second-straight championship.
For Draymond Green, who has won four titles with the Golden State Warriors, he’s already seen enough to give Shai the benefit of the doubt. At just 27, he’s taken the NBA by storm, and the Thunder have already proven themselves as a major superpower in the West. So, regardless of his tactics, Green believes Shai has earned his reputation as one of the best players in the league right now, and he’s not about to discredit his game, as the “legacy media” loves to do. According to Green, they are responsible for spreading false narratives in this series.
“No one talks basketball anymore,” said Green. “But no one knows basketball anymore because the sh*t is just moving too fast. Everything’s moving too fast. And so we want to pinpoint the thing that we can slow down. Shai falling, Shai at the free throw line, everybody’s complaining about Shai getting too many foul calls. And going into Game 6, Shai had shot five more free throws in the series than Wemby. But the whole complaint is that Shai is getting too many foul calls. I don’t understand it.”
Shai’s methods have become an increasing storyline in the series, and a loss in Game 7 could swing public opinion against him. For now, however, Shai’s tactics are getting results, and that’s all that he or the Thunder care about right now. Unless the rules change or defenders learn how to guard him without fouling, we shouldn’t expect SGA to change his ways.
