The Spurs hit the ground running with a sense of desperation in Game 4 of their Western Conference Finals series against the Thunder. To halt a 25-12 start to the game for the Spurs, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drew a foul on De’Aaron Fox with less than two minutes left in the first quarter.
The problem with this foul was that De’Aaron Fox made next to no contact with any body part of Gilgeous-Alexander and actively tried to avoid touching him while contesting a shot. Yet somehow, Gilgeous-Alexander went to the floor, and a foul was called on De’Aaron Fox.
SGA just fell down on the shot completely UNTOUCHED
This is the most SHAMELESS basketball player I’ve ever seen and the refs keep letting him get away with it pic.twitter.com/SYRMd1NQPQ
— Hater Report (@HaterReport) May 25, 2026
This play went viral on social media, feeding into the narrative that league officials are biased towards superstars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is now encouraged to ‘flop’ on every play. NBA fans jumped on social media and flooded it with reactions about how outrageous the officials’ decision was.
While some fans were unhappy with the impact on the quality of basketball being played and the officiating, some fans also directed their frustrations towards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for selling the call by falling to the floor.
“The NBA is dead to me as long as this is the product.”
“I keep hearing SGA flops all the time. Can we just be real and normalize holding these referees accountable? SGA does this move because he knows the refs will call it. It’s the refs who are enabling this behavior. It’s the refs not calling games both ways.”
“Fox intentionally went to his side so he can’t jump into him, and it’s still a “foul”, can’t f—ing take these refs.”
“The refs are doing what they’ve been doing all season for SGA. That’s clearly NOT a foul on Fox.”
“This is why old heads lose their mind. There was once a version of this sport that was incredible, this ain’t it.”
“Not going to lie, this is disgraceful to watch. This is not basketball; this looks like a full-fledged rigging. This is very bad for the NBA.”
The extent to which fans don’t like the basketball product that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the NBA are producing for the Thunder is well represented in another viral moment, also from Game 4, where a fan sitting in the front row made a mini Oscar trophy to give to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for his acting on the floor.
There’s a woman courtside here in San Antonio who brought a mini Oscar trophy to present to SGA whenever he hits the deck. More sights/sounds/analysis on the @TheAthletic live blog here.https://t.co/E8oH0QM43k pic.twitter.com/QQ8OAo1wFM
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) May 25, 2026
After spending several thousand dollars to get a courtside seat at a Western Conference Finals game, if fans are indirectly protesting the quality of basketball in the league, then the NBA should certainly look into finding a way to increase accountability on the officials.
Since, at the end of the day, it is the fans who give their money to the league for watching the games. So the league cannot deny that they need to clearly reassess its basketball product.
