Ethical basketball has been quite the topic recently and Victor Wembanyama fueled it by shading Oklahoma City Thunder led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who is accused of foul-baiting even by his fellow players.
Wembanyama, fresh from their NBA Cup semifinals win over OKC, alluded to the way their opponents play.
“I’m just glad to be part of something that’s growing to be so beautiful — pure and ethical basketball,” he told reporters in Las Vegas.
Some analysts think it was uncalled for but he’s not taking back his words. A follow up question was made to preview their NBA Cup finals match up with the New York Knicks and he doubled down on his take.
“In modern basketball, we see a lot of brands of basketball that don’t offer much variety,” he said.
“A lot of isolation ball. Sometimes kind of forced basketball. We try to propose a brand of basketball that can be seen as kind of old-school sometimes, the Spurs way as well. So it’s tactically more correct basketball in my opinion.”
Dwyane Wade defends Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Is SGA really playing unethical basketball? An NBA great thinks he is not.
Dwyane Wade sat down with Clutch Points and there, he debunked accusations that what the 2025 MVP is doing is wrong. He emphasized that it is what basketball greats do.
“Ain’t that the purpose?” Wade said.
“Isn’t the point to actually, like, have a guy that can draw fouls, that can get to the line, that can slow the game down, and that you can count on in the fourth quarter? The best players, the high IQ players find a way to manipulate the game, right? And it’s really about understanding. His understanding of the game, of body movement, of defenses, he’s smart enough to know how to get the call. Like, you know what I mean? And so I don’t feel like that’s a bad thing.”
Currently, SGA is only third in free throw attempts. Ahead of him are Luka Doncic who’s at the line 12.3 times per game and Giannis Antetokounmpo who gets rewarded from fouls 9.8 times.
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