Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has taken his Instagram account and turned it into a creative sketchbook for his newfound talent of writing reflective rap lyrics online. And it’s not that bad either…
“Back in the city where I started at. I was in the nose bleeds with the Vince jersey and the Starter cap. Now I look into the stands and see my name, who would’ve thought of that.”
You can’t tell me that’s not a bar.
It’s crazy how now a days players can walk off the court of a professional basketball game and share their personal thoughts directly with fans within minutes after the referees blow their final whistle. A lot of times this opportunity is taken advantage of poorly, like Kevin Durant’s iconic twitter troll reputation, but other times it leads to good fun.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s social media rap lyrics lean more towards the latter. In fact, they show a reflection of his life and rising success with the Oklahoma City Thunder. For just over two years SGA has turned his Instagram into a poetic illustration but what originally sparked the idea?
The History of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Rap Captions
The first instance of SGA posting rap lyrics as an Instagram caption came on January 9th, 2023, a day after the Thunder beat the Dallas Mavericks 120-109. Shai had 33 points that game but in the post game, ESPN Analysts focused on how Luka fell short instead of how SGA succeeded. The ESPN crew also mentioned how Luka would be/is a better NBA player than Gilgeous-Alexander.
That evidentially left a sour taste in the Canadian superstar’s mouth and he took to Instagram saying,
View this post on Instagram
From this point on most of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Instagram captions are rap lyrics. Here are the best bars and funniest contexts out of the bunch.
Motivational SGA Quotes
“Back 2 work, i don’t need 2 much rest, until 2 is the best. I’m not happy with 2 in the west.” Feb. 19th, 2024
This bar is one of No. 2’s best and was posted during the all-star break of the 2024 NBA season. The Thunder ended up finishing first in the Western Conference so SGA was able to manifest destiny through this caption.
“I’m done playing the nice guy to ppl tryna belittle // like Malcolm in 06, I’m done playing the middle” Nov. 9th, 2023
In reference to the early 2000’s TV show, Malcolm in the Middle, Shai posted this at the beginning of the 2024 season declaring that he was entering a new phase in his game. SGA had dropped a career high 43 points that previous night.
“DON’T ASK IF I’M DONE YET. I WORK TILL IT’S SUNSET. AND GRIND NONSTOP SO MOMMA KNOWS THAT HER SON’S SET.” March 19th, 2023
This was one of SGA’s earliest rap posts and showcases his love for his mom. Charmaine Gilgeous, was an Olympic athlete for Canada in 1992.
The Thunder’s Rise to Success
Several of Shai-Gilgeous Alexander’s rap captions portray the recent transition of the Oklahoma City Thunder: when Shai first joined the team him and his club were underappreciated. Now that the Thunder are a top dog in the NBA, SGA’s social media rapping has come full circle.
“Idc how you spin it, The playoffs are coming, And I have to play-in it. March 27th, 2023
After three years with a rebuilding Thunder squad, SGA finally saw playoff light in 2023 when the team made the play-in tournament. Although they would lose, it would be the start of a historically good Thunder team.
“They used to make jokes and say the team I’m on the worst, now I wake up & the team I’m on is First..” May 10th, 2023
After the 2023 season OKC was starting to get some hype. NBA analysts were predicting a strong 2024 season for OKC and this was Shai’s response.
“Ohhhh they must’ve thought it was sweet. We used to look at schedules and prepare for defeat. Ohhhh they must’ve thought we were sheep until they peeked under the disguise and looked at our teeth.” Dec. 28th, 2023
NBA analysts were right, the Thunder started the 2023-2024 season hot. After scoring 36 vs the Knicks and leading his team to 27 wins with only eight losses, SGA took to Instagram condemning the people that doubted his team’s excellence.
Just a week later Gilgeous-Alexander would double down by rapping, “It’s a fight at the top, you have to prepare for the Thunder now, weather you like it or not.”
Showcasing His Fashion IQ
“I walk in unannounced, in clothes I can’t pronounce.” Jan. 26th, 2023
This post was purely to showcase his designer clothes, but it’s still a banger. SGA is amongst the best dressed in the NBA and won the 2023-2024 NBA Style of the Year Award.
“I’m not at CITI Field when i tell you I’m in NY for the Met.” May 2nd, 2023
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s style is complete enough to merit a invitation to the Met Gala; he attended the event in 2023 and posted a photo with this creative rap caption.
Iconic Responses
The most famous of SGA’s Instagram raps came on January 21st, 2024 after a battle with the Minnesota Timberwolves the previous night. The Thunder would win the game and 12 of Shai’s 33 came from the free throw line, which caused Anthony Edwards to say this after the game.
“It’s hard, man, with the calls that Shai gets. You can’t touch him at any of the time of the game so it’s hard to shut him down.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander responded on Instagram with a post captioned, “They talk about me for my post game, not my postgame,” throwing a subtle shot at Edwards.
As a pro athlete one of the most annoying things that comes with the territory has got to be hearing the heckling gamblers that lost money because you didn’t cover the spread or reach a certain amount of points.
SGA must have heard one to many of those hecklers on December 17th, 2023 for he posted this Instagram rap caption that day,
“Shai over, Shai under, Shai you owe me bread bc you didn’t cover. Ya ya ya, just know who to go to when you need a bucket before the buzzer.”
After hitting a game winning jumper versus the New York Knicks during the 2024 season SGA added another moment to his Instagram montage by posting a fan’s point of view of the game winning shot and captioning the video,
“you can always go to 2 in the end, for 2 in the end.”
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