Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is sitting at the pinnacle of NBA basketball at age 27. Retirement is not a question he should be considering at this point. But nonetheless, during his most recent interview with GQ, he was asked about it indirectly, but his response could become a cause of worry for some of his fans.
While Gilgeous-Alexander can’t say for certain when he would retire, he is certain that it would be before he turns 40. The interviewer from GQ asked him about his idols, LeBron James and Chris Paul, and whether he sees himself playing in the NBA as long as they do.
“I definitely think I can,” Shai says. “I won’t, though. A hundred percent. I won’t want to miss that much of my kid’s life,” he explains. “I won’t want to be away and miss his first basketball game every year, his first soccer game, football game, piano lesson, chess lesson, whatever it is.”
“And there’s a certain point in your career where you reach your peak. I don’t fault guys for still playing. They love the game. But I just feel like I play this game, ultimately, to see what the best version of me can be. Once I figure that out and I start going down, then it’s like, Okay, well, what am I playing for now? As soon as that happens, I’ll be on the first ship out,” Gilgeous-Alexander further added.
As a married man now, he has shifted his priorities towards his family. He prioritizes the time he spends with his son, Ares Alexander. Therefore, he would even retire earlier than the point to which he could push his body like James and Paul, just to avoid missing the key moments through which his son grows up.
“Family, friends, hoops, fashion” is how he ticks off the priorities. “Everything else just gets in the way.” When the interviewer spoke to Gilgeous-Alexander’s wife, Hailey Summers, even she agreed that ever since their son was born, Shai had changed for the better.
Shai’s approach to vacations was the biggest change she saw in him since he became a father. She used to have to convince him to take a week off to relax after the season ended.
“But now that we have Ares, he’s like, ‘I can’t wait for this break. What’s the plan? Let’s do something!” she said. “He just really enjoys being a dad. He’s extremely patient, extremely present, and he’s better at taking a step back now.”
Alexander took his family to Canada immediately following the Thunder’s championship parade in June, where they spent two weeks visiting Ares’s grandparents and touring zoos, aquariums, and farms. Thunder fans could potentially worry about losing their franchise player, but they shouldn’t because he would only retire once he feels he can no longer be the best version of himself, which is the key reason why he plays basketball in the first place.
