Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is in the middle of an MVP-caliber season, and his former head coach Doc Rivers is a bit surprised by it.
Rivers, who coached Gilgeous-Alexander in his rookie season, claimed he knew the Canadian international would be an NBA star someday. However, Rivers admits that he is surprised to be in the MVP conversation at this point of his career.
“I don’t think anybody in the world saw this in him,” Rivers said via The Associated Press’ Steve Megargee. “We did think he was going to be really, really good. I thought he was going to be a star. I said it when we traded him. But to see this, I don’t think anyone can honestly say they knew he was going to be this special.”
“I had him his rookie year, the one thing I loved about him, the game has never gone fast for him,” he added. “He’s always been able to play at a pretty good pace, and now he’s just getting better at it.”
Oklahoma City Thunder on a three-game winning streak
After losing to the Denver Nuggets last week, the Oklahoma City Thunder secured quality wins over the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics, and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been as consistent as they come for Oklahoma City, scoring at least 20 points in 62 consecutive regular season appearances.
Jalen Williams (hip), Ousmane Dieng (calf), and Luguentz Dort (hip) were ruled out against Milwaukee last Sunday, and Oklahoma City hope to have them back against Philadelphia on Wednesday.
