The Oklahoma City Thunder were widely criticized for tanking in these last couple of years, but their postseason drought has lasted a total of two seasons.
With the Dallas Mavericks losing on Friday, the Thunder clinched a spot in the play-in tournament, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a message for his haters after that.
The Thunder were expected to once again be among the worst teams in the NBA, but they have managed to post a 39-42 record and no one saw that coming. Shai has been a big reason for this unexpected success, averaging 31.4 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 5.5 APG, 1.6 SPG, and 1.0 BPG.
He is just the fourth player in NBA history to ever average at least 30.0 PPG, 5.0 APG, 1.0 SPG, and 1.0 BPG after Michael Jordan, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James. That is certainly some good company to be a part of and as long as he stays healthy, Shai is going to be one of the best players in the league in the years to come. For now, though, he’ll be hoping to lead his team into the playoffs.
Chet Holmgren Thinks He, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, And Josh Giddey Can Form The New Big 3 In OKC
The Thunder have had this success despite Chet Holmgren missing the whole season with a Lisfranc injury and who knows how much better they’d have been if he was available. Holmgren, who was selected with the second pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, will be back for next season and he has high hopes regarding what he, Shai, and Josh Giddey can achieve.
Holmgren thinks they can be the next Big 3 for the Thunder after the days of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden. While that trio didn’t win a title, they still achieved quite a bit and it’ll take a big effort from this newest trio to reach those same heights.
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