Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the frontrunners for the league MVP award after leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a historic campaign. Because of his all-around play, his team clinched the top seed in the Western Conference with a 63-12 record (as of this writing).
Despite his superb performances, Gilgeous-Alexander has come under fire. Many view him as a foul merchant because of his uncanny ability to draw many free throw attempts in a game, and his father Vaughn fired a message to his son’s bashers.
“If you ain’t doing nothing, nobody ain’t talking about you, right?” the elder Alexander said on Gil’s Arena. “You’re gonna have no haters when you do nothing, you can do nothing proper, right? So, at the end of the day, I just look at it, a lot of it, it’s like, hatorade stuff because at the end of the day, drawing fouls is a part of the game, it’s actually a skill.”
“You go back to as I said, (Allen) Iverson and Kobe (Bryant) and the guys that do it, you’re trying to draw a foul, yes, but that doesn’t make you (a foul baiter),” he added. “Why wouldn’t I want to try to draw a foul when I beat you and you can’t recover and stay in front of me? It’s a foul, motherf***er.”
Oklahoma City Thunder News: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander draws MVP praise from two-time NBA All-Star guard
Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton believes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has wrapped up this season’s MVP race for helping the Oklahoma City Thunder clinch the top seed in the Western Conference.
“I grew up in an era where the best player on the best team wins MVP every time. I think our era is kind of getting away from that a little bit, which is fine, because I think Jokic and those guys are warranted when they win,” Haliburton said about Gilgeous-Alexander via Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman.
“But I think you take away them (OKC) having the best record, he (Shai) would still be the MVP, and then you throw on the fact that he has the best record, he kind of makes it an easy decision. I don’t have a vote, but if you took a player poll, I’m sure he would win,” he concluded.
