Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is on the verge of achieving something that very few players have ever done. If the Oklahoma City Thunder manage to win two of their next three games against the Indiana Pacers, Shai would end the season with MVP, a championship, and, presumably, Finals MVP. That’s a very rare accomplishment. Dwyane Wade never did it. Kobe Bryant never did it.
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Still, those two names are legends in their own regard, and the former shared his thoughts on how Shai could reach an even higher level. After watching the young Canadian put up 35 points and 15 of the team’s last 16 to win a pivotal Game 4 on the road, Wade pointed out one big weakness in his game.
Shai has been targeted defensively all series, with many Twitter analysts posting clips of him getting blown by on drives from Andrew Nembhard and Pascal Siakam. According to Wade, the next step in SGA’s evolution will come when he can impact the game even when his shot isn’t falling.
“He’s [Shai] one of the coolest players in the world,” started Wade, “but this ain’t the time to be that cool though. I don’t want to see that cool trot right now… I need you to make sacrifices like you need your other players to make sacrifices as well and that means if I’m struggling offensively to get going, I gotta make some plays on the defensive end of the floor.”
Not for nothing, but SGA already took that leap defensively during the regular season. He was good enough to receive 11 total votes for an All-Defensive team, one of which was a first-team vote. That said, the Playoffs are a different animal. Even though Shai has improved considerably on that end, he still ranks as the least effective defender in the Thunder’s rotation.
Wade mentioned this when talking about SGA’s strengths on defense being 82 game plays, and not 16 game plays. “He’s in a rest position most of the time. He’s really good with reaching and stripping the ball, so when a guy goes by, he tries to reach and strip… But, when he’s on the weakside, he’s not that good,” he explained.
In other words, the next evolution of Shai sees him gain the ability to prevent opposing players from passing him, going from a sneak attack poke-out to a full-on shutdown.
That’s a fast way to gain career accolades, as a major part of award races is influenced by perception. As great as he is, Kawhi Leonard has not been a top defensive player in the regular season in 7 years, and still added two extra All-Defensive teams. The perfect example comes in the form of Kobe Bryant, as Wade put it.
“A lot of people don’t know that in that Finals, that last Finals they won, Kobe didn’t play well, he didn’t shoot the ball well. Actually, everybody thought Pau Gasol should’ve been the MVP… but you never could tell, when you turned the TV on, that he was struggling. His intensity is always there. That fire is always there,” he elaborated.
Bryant did eventually win that Finals MVP against the Boston Celtics in 2010. It was the last time he would ever reach the Finals.
So much of Kobe’s legacy is nostalgia and perception. As great as he was, a huge part of the Bryant experience was the feeling that you were watching something immense, even when he was missing 18 shots or getting beaten on defense. That has a lot to do with image and perception rather than basketball. Shai could learn a thing or two about that.
