Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is on another historic NBA season. After winning the regular-season MVP and NBA championship last season, Gilgeous-Alexander hasn’t slowed down. In the 2025-26 NBA season, the Thunder star is averaging 32.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 6.6 assists. SGA has led the defending champions at the top of the Western Conference with a 20-1 record.
With his play this season, former NBA star Paul Pierce can’t deny how great he’s been for the Thunder. On Monday’s episode of “No Fouls Given,” Pierce talked about how SGA is similar to Michael Jordan. The former Chicago Bulls superstar is one of the most decorated stars in the league and is usually in the GOAT conversation.
Pierce believes that Gilgeous-Alexander is a better star player than LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant, especially offensively. His consistency in scoring the basketball is what separates him from the others.
“You just can’t stop him. You know, he’s starting to give me that Jordan presence. You can clock it, bro. He’s a well-oiled machine. I know we had Kobe, LeBron, KD, and they’ll have big nights, but this dude is consistent 30s. Like, come on, man. Yeah, you don’t see that type of focus or that type of hunger,” Pierce said.
Paul Pierce says SGA is starting to give him Michael Jordan vibes
“You can’t stop him. He’s starting to give me that Jordan presence. He gonna get 30. We had Kobe, LeBron, KD, an they’ll have big nights but this dude is consistent 30s”
(Via @NFGShow) pic.twitter.com/BqVHaSe6pf
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) December 1, 2025
In the past 10 games, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has scored at least 30 points six times. He also had a 40-point performance during that stretch. It terms of scoring, the Canadian star has been consistent, making 54.5% of his shots from the field and 41.1% of his threes.
With SGA’s production, the Thunder are still favorites to come out of the West and defend their title.
Danny Green said that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a better offensive bag than Michael Jordan
Modern players and fans highlight a star’s offensive bag in the NBA. Stars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander consistently put it on display each time he’s on the court. This led to Danny Green to say that the Thunder star had a better bag than Michael Jordan. Green talked about it with Pierce in his podcast.
“He was one-two dribble pull-up,” Pierce said. “No bag.
“Mike had a limited bag,” he continued. “He didn’t need to do all that fancy s**t. He was one-two —he was right to the business.”
Green chimed in and said this:
“Shai got more bag.”
SGA has more counters on the floor, based on whatever defense is on him. Jordan, on the other hand, was a more athletic player and benefitted a lot from going downhill. But he also slowed the game down with how he operated in the mid-range.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
