Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been a stone-cold killer on the court for the past few seasons. And he has often left defenders perplexed on how to guard him. Yet he believes that no one talks trash with him since his actions are only focused on winning and not engaging with his opponents.
During his recent interview with GQ, he spoke about why he either tunes out his opponents or people don’t mess with him and talk sh** to him during games.
“Guys don’t really talk shit to me,” he says. “I don’t do anything that warrants talking shit. I go out there, I have 30, we win, I go home. I’m not out there doing crazy stuff.”
That’s the mentality of a stone-cold killer between the lines: do whatever it takes to win without giving your opponents any space to live in your head rent-free. Just last season, the closest he came to a scuffle against any player on the court was a heated battle for the ball with his Canadian teammate, Dillon Brooks, which ended in them laughing it off a few minutes later.
“Shai’s the scariest type of person to play against,” says his Thunder teammate Chet Holmgren, “because no matter what you do or say, you can’t even get a reaction out of the guy. He just goes out there and kills.”
Considering how Shai Gilgeous-Alexander idolizes Kobe Bryant, his unfazed attitude towards his opponents resembles the same killer mentality that Bryant played with in his prime. But a lot of NBA fans likely disagree with me, as Gilgeous-Alexander’s comments went viral on social media, and most fans criticized his take.
“Your real test starts when you’ve got Dray and Butler coming at you from both ends — can’t wait to see that reaction.”
“Cuz they know u will stop the game and walk to the ref and snitch.”
“Spoken like a free-throw merchant.”
“He’s the corny dude everyone thinks Tatum is.”
“Flopping definitely warrants that.”
But some fans also defended the reigning MVP for sticking to the job and not letting distractions get the best of him.
“The ultimate mood for anyone who is just quietly excellent at their job. This is so real; when your work speaks for itself, you genuinely don’t need the extra noise or drama. He just channeled the energy of an elite assassin who finishes the mission and dips without an extra word.”
“Correct. Silent killers don’t need to bark; they just drop buckets and disappear like ghosts. Respect the calm assassins.”
“Pure hooper energy. Doesn’t talk, doesn’t taunt, just kills you efficiently and walks off.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is coming off a historic season where he won the scoring championship, regular season MVP, as well as the Finals MVP after winning Game 7 against the Pacers to win the Thunder’s first-ever NBA title. He averaged 32.0 points, 6.4 assists, and 5.1 rebounds over the 99 games he played last season (which includes the 23 Playoff games).
Achieving as much as he has in his career is already sufficient to boost a player’s ego and distract them from the main focus of their career. However, in my opinion, Gilgeous-Alexander’s behavior indicates that he has truly embraced the idea that he is the best player in the world and no one can guard him. But instead of letting it become his ego, his discipline and humility show that he is a superstar that future generations can emulate.
