Shai Gilgeous-Alexander struck a calm demeanor after Oklahoma City’s recent rough patch, pushing back on any sense of panic around the Thunder. Speaking with Marc Spears, the MVP candidate made it clear that short stretches like this were always part of the plan for a young team with big expectations.
“[The media conversation is] going to be very loud because we barely lost,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “But I’ve had way tougher times as an NBA player. So, I’m not overreacting or anything. But we definitely need to get better. But that is nothing we didn’t already know. We didn’t think we were going to go 81-1 and not lose to anybody, [or] we were going to win the championship with the team we had [last season].”
While most stars would panic or act out when the going gets tough, Shai is cut from a different cloth. For him, this stretch is simply part of the natural progression that comes with raising internal standards and external expectations.
“The league is going to get better. The players are going to get better. The coaches are going to get better. Schemes are going to get better,” Gilgeous-Alexander added. “We knew that and we knew we had to grow. We lost a couple of games because we weren’t ready and we weren’t as good as we thought we were. We use those experiences like we have in the past and grow from them.”
After opening the season with an NBA-best 24-1 record, the Thunder have dropped five of their last ten, including three losses to the Spurs. The stretch exposed some growing pains, particularly late-game execution and defensive consistency against physical teams. It’s been a difficult test that has pushed the Thunder to their limit.
Even so, Gilgeous-Alexander has remained the steady engine behind everything OKC does. Through 36 games this season, he’s averaging 31.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game on 54.8% shooting (41.0% from three). His ability to control tempo, get to his spots, and set the tone on both ends has kept the Thunder afloat during uneven stretches and has positioned them firmly among the West’s elite despite the recent dip.
Coming off a humbling blowout loss to the Hornets (that saw the Thunder move to 30-7 on the season), Oklahoma City has hit rock bottom, but Shai is using the moment as an opportunity to grow. He knows the Thunder can be better, and every loss is a chance to learn.
Ultimately, only time will tell how the Thunder respond to this latest adversity, but a potential championship could hinge on how they adjust to this low point. Under Shai’s leadership, the chances are strong that they can come out even better than before.
