Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s NBA greatness is so much more than foul baiting

The biggest talking point from the Oklahoma City Thunder’s rise to dominance this season has been their relationship with fouling. The Thunder’s top-ranked defense was born out of a historic ability to force takeaways on opposing teams that involves a lot of subtle grabbing and holding before they get into the passing lanes, which was especially apparent as smaller defenders wrestled with Nikola Jokic in the second round. On offense, much of OKC’s success has been attributed to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s ability to generate easy points from the free throw line.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s improbable rise from a rookie starter on the Los Angeles Clippers to the likely 2025 NBA MVP has happened for a number of reasons. Mastering the dark arts of drawing fouls is certainly one of them. SGA got his first MVP ballot placement with a fifth-place finish back in 2023 by upping his free throw attempts to 10.9 per game — the fifth highest average for a guard since 2000. His free throw attempts have declined since, but his reputation as a “foul grifter” is cemented.

The critics of SGA’s foul drawing had plenty of ammunition after Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Gilgeous-Alexander was awful in the first half as the Wolves raced out to an early lead, shooting 2-of-13 from the floor and wasting many of those possessions as he tried to draw a foul instead of actually, you know, playing basketball. It’s easy to view SGA’s tactics through the prism of a weekend warrior playing pickup at his home gym: you can’t flop in pickup when players are calling the fouls, so why should Gilgeous-Alexander be rewarded for falling down again and again?

SGA got my fake MVP vote this year, and I’ve been a fan of his game since his Kentucky days. Still, some of his flailing in Game 1 was an eyesore at best and an embarrassment at worse. Just play basketball!

Gilgeous-Alexander would get his act together in the second half. The Thunder went from down four at halftime to up 26 at the final buzzer, cementing their Game 1 rout with their tried-and-true formula of a defensive blitzkrieg and SGA’s shot-making mastery.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 31 points and nine assists. He was still hunting fouls in the second half, but this time he was more concerned with actually making the shot than flopping. There were multiple and-ones that turned this game into a blowout, and they showcased SGA’s incredible slipperiness, flexibility, and soft touch way more than his grifting.

The matchup between SGA and Anthony Edwards shows the lengths superstar guards need to go to to gain an advantage. Edwards has a world-class combination of speed-to-power built for attacking the rim and generating poster dunks. His evolution into one of the best players in the world this season has been so much deeper than that, though. Edwards’ decision-making against traps stands out, but the development of his pull-up three is even more spectacular. Edwards took 6.7 threes per game a year ago. This season, he took 10.3 threes per game, mostly on pull-ups, which trailed only Steph Curry.

Why is the best athlete in the NBA taking 10 threes per game? It all comes back to looking for an advantage. The threat of Edwards’ pull-up means you can’t drop back and defend against his drives. Of course, as soon as you press up on him to take away the pull-up, he’s driving right past you. The idea of Edwards turning into one of the best shooters in the world seemed wildly far-fetched when he entered the league out of Georgia, but he’s made it reality this season.

Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t spam three-pointers. He took 5.7 threes per game this year, which ranked No. 53 in the league. Instead, SGA marks his efficiency by getting to the foul line. The constant whistles and slowing down of the game is annoying for fans, but it’s also one of the most effective ways to reliably generate offense.

Drawing fouls is a skill, and SGA is great at it. While a player like Edwards is a straight line driver and explosive leaper attacking the basket, Gilgeous-Alexander plays like a snake slithering through the grass. He’s so shifty with his handle and his ability to stop on a dime that defenders can never fully square him up. His off-arm has become a weapon, and he’s a master of pushing off without fully extending his arm for the offensive foul.

Gilgeous-Alexander took 17 shots in the paint in Game 1. Want to get to the foul line? Consistently driving the ball into the paint is the best way to do it. Like a boxer, SGA has a keen understanding of leverage and how to use it when his opponents get off-balance. When you reach, he’s ready to teach.

SGA’s 8.8 free throw attempts per game ranked second in the regular season behind Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 10.6. It’s a lot of free throws to be sure, but remember that there have been 83 players to average at least nine free throw attempts per game since 2000, and he isn’t on that list this season. His free throw attempts have gone down in the playoffs.

Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the most mid-range heavy players in the league. He took 48 percent of his field goals from mid-range this year, per Cleaning the Glass, which ranked in the 94th percentile. He made those shots at a 51 percent clip, which ranked in the 98th percentile.

Critics of this era of the NBA like to say star players take too many threes and every team plays the same. You can’t say that about SGA and the Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander rips from mid-range like Jordan or Kobe, and the Thunder beat you up with perimeter defenders like The Dobbermans with MJ and Pippen. Basketball is still a game ruled by the bigs, though, and shooting 51 percent from mid-range isn’t even enough to really gain an advantage. While Edwards spams threes, SGA masters getting to the foul line. It’s the only way to win big in the NBA when you don’t tower over the court.

It’s hard to shake a reputation once it’s been formed, and Gilgeous-Alexander will likely carry the “grifter” tag for the rest of his career. It’s a huge disservice to his game to make it the main talking point, though. SGA is putting together one of the better guard seasons we’ve seen since Jordan, and taking and making a lot of free throws is just one part of his brilliance.