Fair or not, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will be judged by OKC Thunder success in NBA playoffs
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is in the sweet spot of superstardom. His approval rating and 2K rating are the same. Both 97. He’s captivating on the court and controversy-free off of it. He’s chill, even by Canadian standards. He’s the King of Converse, collaborates with Kim Kardashian and has twice been GQ’s most fashionable NBA player.
It’s remarkable, really, the level of fame SGA has reached despite having zero playoff series wins. Despite never having been the guy on a playoff team.
And yet his universal appeal makes perfect sense, right? We nitpick stars so much, it’s refreshing how reasonable the NBA community has been about SGA, a consensus top-five player in the world whose lack of playoff success is easily explained by team context.
Cherish it while you can, Shai, because the arrows are about to fly.
Fair or not, superstars are judged by what they do in the postseason. As the No. 1 player on the No. 1 seed in the West, more eyes will be on SGA than ever before. More expectations, probably since he played for Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament.
Will Gilgeous-Alexander’s regular-season greatness translate to the postseason? No reason to think it won’t, but as is the case with every aspect of this young Thunder squad, we just haven’t seen it before.
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Gilgeous-Alexander said he’s excited for “not only myself, but seeing where us as an organization stands in a playoff series against whoever it may be, and seeing how good we really are.”
The Thunder has the underlying numbers of a championship-caliber team. A 57-25 record with a +7.4 point differential, second-best in the NBA behind Boston (+11.4). OKC’s 7.3 net rating, outscoring opponents by 7.3 points per 100 possessions, is historically elite. The numbers are on OKC’s side.
All the numbers except the ones on the players’ birth certificates.
Gilgeous-Alexander, at age 25, has played in 13 playoff games — six in his rookie season with the Clippers and seven in his sophomore season with the Thunder.
Kevin Durant and James Harden had both played in 73 playoff games by the end of their age 25 seasons. Russell Westbrook had played in 64.
Boston’s Jayson Tatum, who’s only four months older than Gilgeous-Alexander, has played in more playoff series (16) than Gilgeous-Alexander has playoff games (13).
As a rookie in 2018-19, Gilgeous-Alexander was a starter on a scrappy, starless Clippers team that took the Warriors to six games in the first round. Gilgeous-Alexander played the fifth-most minutes for the Clippers in that series, behind Danilo Gallinari, Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams and Landry Shamet.
But Gilgeous-Alexander, the No. 11 pick the summer before, showed plenty of promise.
Then came the trade that set the Thunder’s new era in motion.
Paul George to L.A.
SGA to OKC.
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With Gilgeous-Alexander bringing Gallinari and a jillion picks with him.
That 2019-20 season was supposed to be Year 1 of the Thunder’s rebuild, but nobody knew how potent the three-guard lineup of Gilgeous-Alexander, Chris Paul and Dennis Schröder would be.
The Thunder was on a 50-win pace before COVID struck. In the bubble playoffs, the Thunder lost to the Rockets in Game 7 of the first round.
SGA led the Thunder in minutes in that series, but Paul and Schröder took the most shots. Paul and Schroder were traded that next offseason. The Thunder gave the keys to Gilgeous-Alexander, but SGA, in lock step with general manager Sam Presti, knew there was a long road ahead.
After two rebuilding years came a play-in appearance last season. Now, complemented by the riches of the Thunder’s rebuild, Gilgeous-Alexander is back in the playoffs. Only this time he won’t be the fifth guy. Or the third guy. As a soon-to-be, back-to-back All-NBA first teamer, Gilgeous-Alexander will be the best player, by far, in the Thunder’s first-round series against the Pelicans.
Even against Luka and the Mavericks or Kawhi and the Clippers in a potential Round 2 matchup, SGA won’t be forgiven for ceding the best-player-in-the-series crown. Not until a potential Western Conference Finals clash against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets.
That’s a lot to ask of SGA, but this is the postseason — where the biggest of stars are judged by what they do under the brightest of lights.
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Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will be judged by Thunder's playoff success
