<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-reveals-nba-cup-hunter-mentality');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reveals NBA Cup ‘hunter’s mentality’');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunder-All-Star-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander_928dac.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reveals NBA Cup ‘hunter’s mentality’</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-12T15:46:32-08:00">December 12th, 3:46pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-12T15:46:32-08:00">December 12th, 3:46pm</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Despite the defending champion’s emphatic near-perfect record, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder still strive to improve. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-bonkers-stat-shows-how-dominant-24-1-start-been">24-1 Thunder is on a 16-game winning streak</a> entering the NBA Cup semifinal game against the San Antonio Spurs.</p><p>Gilgeous-Alexander addressed the Thunder’s <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1999617408479428958" rel="noopener">approach as defending champions</a> this season during his media availability in Las Vegas.</p><p>“We go out there with a hunter’s mentality ourselves, and honestly, we go out there to better ourselves,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I’m sure you guys have heard the stories about some of my teammates competing against each other during the games to get steals, and things like that — that’s where our minds is. We’re trying to be a better version of ourselves every night we go out there, we like to hunt in that form.</p><p>“If we didn’t get better tonight, then we wasted an opportunity. That’s kind of how we see it.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"We go out there with a hunter's mentality… We're trying to be a better version of ourselves every night we go out there, we like to hunt in that form."</p><p>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the OKC Thunder mindset coming into the NBA Cup 🏆</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBA</a>)<a href="https://t.co/JYt32uiQzy">pic.twitter.com/JYt32uiQzy</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1999617408479428958?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder cruised to a 138-89 win against the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Cup quarterfinal at the Paycom Center, where Oklahoma City is a perfect 12-0 this season. The Spurs earned their spot in Vegas after beating the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119 on Wednesday.</p><p>All-Star Victor Wembanyama, who’s been sidelined with a left calf strain since November 14, is expeted to return for the Spurs.</p><h2><b>Why Mark Daigneault isn’t focused on Thunder’s streak</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunder-All-Star-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-2_c08202.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Thunder head coach <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-why-mark-daigneault-isnt-focused-16-game-win-streak">Mark Daigneault addressed his team’s 16-game winning streak</a> after Wednesday’s victory, explaining how his team’s lack of focus on the hype surrouding them has helped players stay locked in. It’s the kind of ideal mental focus Daigneault sees in the Thunder’s approach, which is at a high level, and has resulted in a team rattling off 16 consecutive wins.</p><p>“Not focusing on the win streak,” Daigneault said, is critical. “You just gotta play the next possession, get better the next day, win the next quarter, and compete in the next game. If you do that and you’re present in the process, sometimes you look up, and you win a certain amount of games in a row. But we certainly need to understand that we still have a lot of improvement to make. We have a lot of things to sustain and a lot of competitive challenges ahead.</p><p>“There’s a lot of season ahead of us. But guys have done a great job of staying very present in the season, so far, competing in the moment, and it’s put us in a nice position,” Daigneault concluded.</p><p>The Thunder will face the Spurs in Las Vegas on Saturday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reveals NBA Cup ‘hunter’s mentality’

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-steve-nash-michael-jordan-shai-gilgeous-alexander');   ga('set', 'title', 'Steve Nash knows his Michael Jordan comparison for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is ‘sacrilegious’');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Steve-Nash-shoots-the-ball.jpg"><figcaption>Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><h1>Steve Nash knows his Michael Jordan comparison for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is ‘sacrilegious’</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-11T08:19:56-08:00">December 11th, 8:19am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-11T08:19:56-08:00">December 11th, 8:19am</time><address><a>Zachary Draves</a>Zachary Draves is a sportswriter and broadcaster based in the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa. Zachary covers a variety of different sports as well as sports history, sport and society, and sport and culture. He is also a professor of sociology.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Obviously, the OKC Thunder <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-okc-nba-history-nba-cup-suns-blowout">are the most dominant team in the NBA</a>. The defending champions are currently 24-1 and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexanders-face-amid-near-all-out-brawl-sums-it-all-up">have the league’s top scorer</a>, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.</p><p>He is on such a tear right now that he has gotten former NBA player-turned-analyst Steve Nash to give him the highest compliment imaginable. That is putting him on the same plateau as Michael Jordan.</p><p>On Wednesday, Nash <a href="https://x.com/MrBuckBuckNBA/status/1998981580208181454">made the case</a> by citing his numbers, per the NBA on Prime. All the while acknowledging that bringing up Jordan’s name in the context of a contemporary could be characterized as “sacrilegious.”</p><p>“Offensively This guy is entering the heir of Michael Jordan statistically, look at these numbers.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Offensively This guy is entering the heir of Michael Jordan statistically, look at these numbers"  </p><p>– Steve Nash on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<a href="https://t.co/H3PyvP59mZ">pic.twitter.com/H3PyvP59mZ</a></p><p>— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrBuckBuckNBA/status/1998981580208181454?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>As of now, SGA is averaging 32.6 points and 6.5 assists per game. Beyond that, he has a historic True Shooting (TS) percentage of 69%, first in the league. Also, he has the second-highest three-point shooting percentage at 44%. Furthermore, SGA is 6th in the league in 2-point shooting percentage of 60%.</p><p>Plus, SGA is averaging the fewest turnovers per game with 1.7. All in all, one of the most efficient starts for an NBA player in recent memory.</p><p>On Wednesday, the Thunder trounced the Phoenix Suns 138-89, and SGA scored 28 points, shot 11-for-15 from the field, and dished out eight assists.</p><h2><b>The parallels between SGA and Michael Jordan are evident </b></h2><p>When looking at their respective games, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-does-best-michael-jordan-impression-historic-feat">SGA and MJ mirror each other</a>. Both are known for their superb mid-range shooting, unmatched drive, and rising to the occasion when it counted most.</p><p>The last player to evoke those similarities to Jordan was truly Kobe Bryant. Also, just like Jordan didn’t make his varsity team in high school, SGA didn’t make the JV team in his freshmen year.</p><p>Both used that setback to fuel their intensity to prove they were the best. Obviously, Jordan’s championships speak for themselves and his legacy remains unmatched.</p><p>Meanwhile, SGA is building his legacy.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Steve Nash knows his Michael Jordan comparison for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is ‘sacrilegious’

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexanders-face-amid-near-all-out-brawl-sums-it-all-up');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s face amid near all-out brawl sums it all up');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunder-guard-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-2-reacts.jpg"><figcaption>© Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s face amid near all-out brawl sums it all up</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-10T19:25:55-08:00">December 10th, 7:25pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-10T19:25:55-08:00">December 10th, 7:25pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With Oklahoma City Thunder putting up their customary dominant display in a 138-89 victory over the Phoenix Suns in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup, frustrations ran high for the road team. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/phoenix-suns/suns-news-grayson-allen-ejected-hard-foul-okc-chet-holmgren">Grayson Allen, in particular, seemed to have enough</a> and decided to head to the showers early after getting himself ejected by dealing a hard hit to Chet Holmgren that referees deemed worthy of calling a flagrant foul penalty two.</p><p>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1998940524347265170" rel="noopener">perfect firsthand view</a> of what happened as Allen was Holmgren’s man and Holmgren was simply setting a screen to try and free him up. And it was rather hilarious how Gilgeous-Alexander reacted as an all-out brawl nearly unfolded after Allen’s unsportsmanlike infringement.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's reaction to Grayson Allen shoving Chet Holmgren 😮 <a href="https://t.co/24RdPhhcI9">https://t.co/24RdPhhcI9</a> <a href="https://t.co/E1QzG165Kd">pic.twitter.com/E1QzG165Kd</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1998940524347265170?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>This game was as one-sided as it can get for a contest of this magnitude, and at this point, players are simply left scratching their heads on how to defeat this powerhouse Thunder squad. Maybe Allen got the memo that OKC could be irritated by physical play, but even then, all this did was cause a fracas with the game already decided long ago given the deficit the Suns faced at the time.</p><p>This is not the first time that Allen has been called for a foul similar to this, so this kind of behavior shouldn’t come as much of a surprise anymore to anyone.</p><h2><b>Thunder steamroll the Suns</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunder-guard-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-2-moves-the-ball.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-kendrick-perkins-makes-wild-80-2-declaration-after-strong-okc-start">Thunder must be very motivated t</a>o win the NBA Cup after falling in the final of the competition last year. Last year, they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks; this year, they are set up very nicely to go all the way especially after thoroughly dismantling the Suns.</p><p>They have now booked their place in Vegas for the NBA Cup semifinals, awaiting the winner of the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs’ clash on the other side of the bracket.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s face amid near all-out brawl sums it all up

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/how-chris-paul-planted-seeds-shai-gilgeous-alexander-thunder');   ga('set', 'title', 'How Chris Paul planted seeds for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder dynasty');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunders-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-Chris-Paul.jpg"><figcaption>Nicole Sweet-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>How Chris Paul planted seeds for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder dynasty</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-10T12:03:11-08:00">December 10th, 12:03pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-10T12:28:25-08:00">December 10th, 12:28pm</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Clippers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Chris Paul’s vocal leadership style isn’t for everyone — ask the 2025-26 Los Angeles Clippers — but for the 2019-20 Oklahoma City Thunder, it was more than the organization had ever anticipated. It impacted a young group of players in the best kind of ways, led by first-round pick Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and two-way guard Lu Dort. As a proud dad watches a kid graduate college, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/exclusive-shai-gilgeous-alexander-dad-chris-paul-thunder-teammates">Paul watched the Thunder blossom into NBA champions</a> in 2025.</p><p>Half a decade removed from his lone season with Gilgeous-Alexander and Oklahoma City, Paul was sitting courtside for Game 2 of the NBA Finals at the Paycom Center, and before Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves, when SGA was presented with his MVP trophy.</p><p>Gilgeous-Alexander credits Paul for <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/47258039/how-chris-paul-helped-shape-oklahoma-city-thunder-budding-dynasty" rel="noopener">showing him the ropes</a> throughout his second NBA season, first with the Thunder, he said, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.</p><p>“Chris really was the first person to show me what it meant to be a professional,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “He was always doing extra. It was more so off the court than on the court. It was the things you don’t think about as a kid. As a kid, you’re taught to just work super hard, but you’re not really taught nutrition and taking care of your body, getting massages, getting treatment, those type of things he was always on top of.</p><p>“He just always had a get-better mentality in every way, in every way of life.”</p><p>Paul, who was at a crossroads in his career, knew his time with the Thunder was temporary because the organization was undergoing a complete rebuild. Both he and the Thunder front office were on the same page regarding Chris’ long-term plans. However, that didn’t mean Oklahoma City couldn’t be competitive in a loaded Western Conference.</p><p>Paul would invite his teammates to his house for team dinners, giving Thunder prospects a peek into how a future Hall of Fame guard, as CP3, studies game film, breaks down teams’ game plans, and maintains a strict diet. As he connected with his new team, Paul took the time to get to know the players.</p><p>“We’d just be chilling,” Gilgeous-Alexander told ESPN recently. “But how we used to watch the games, he was never, like, just watching them. He was always watching ’em to learn.”</p><p>Some of the lessons learned from that one season with Paul still stick with Gilgeous-Alexander and Dort, to this day, including the iPad Lu uses to study game film and the essential app that comes with it. Both were gifted to Dort, an undrafted prospect on a two-way deal at the time, by Paul and are still in use in 2025.</p><p>It’s one of the many tools that’s helped mold Dort into an All-Defensive First Team guard considered one of the better on-ball defenders in the NBA. The Thunder finished 44-28, fifth in the Western Conference. However, it wasn’t always smooth sailing between Paul and his new Thunder teammates. As with any process that yields growth, there are always ups and downs before progress is made.</p><p>When Dort would pass up open threes, Paul reprimanded the young guard on a non-guaranteed deal, shooting at a 29.7% clip from beyond the arc. For Paul, Lu’s defensive efforts warranted him to take more shots despite his poor shooting percentage. Today, Dort connects on 41.2% of his threes.</p><p>One day, Gilgeous-Alexander received a morning phone call on an off-day during an early-season road trip.</p><p>“Let’s go lift,” Paul said, more of a demand than a suggestion, as ESPN’s MacMahon noted.</p><p>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander revealed he thought weight-lifting was more of an offseason workout for guards. Chris Paul showed him otherwise before the two Thunder teammates began lifting together regularly.</p><p>“Those are things that when you’re teammates, that’s just normal,” Paul said. “If I got something going on and they can help me, they help me. If they got something going on, that’s just a teammate, [sharing] the knowledge. With them being younger, I was just trying to show [them]. I think that’s the importance of vets.”</p><p>The fifth-seeded Thunder lost its opening-round series to the Houston Rockets, 4-3, but it was an overachieving season for Oklahoma City. Paul averaged 17.6 points, 6.7 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.6 steals. He made the All-NBA Second Team, finished seventh in MVP voting, and would lead the Phoenix Suns to an NBA Finals appearance in 2020-21.</p><h2><b>Why things didn’t work out with Chris Paul, Clippers</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunders-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-Chris-Paul-2.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>So, how come the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-clippers/clippers-news-chris-paul-true-feelings-la-release">Clippers weren’t able to leverage Chris Paul’s strengths</a>? What are the contrasting differences between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the 2019-20 Thunder and this year’s Clippers squad? A lot.</p><p>For starters, the average age on Los Angeles’ roster is 33.2, the oldest in NBA history, making it a difficult time to instill change. Not to suggest Paul’s leadership style mirrored his approach to the manner in which he spoke to a 19-year-old Lu Dort in Oklahoma City. However, given what we know about Chris’s vocal style, it isn’t easy to imagine a quiet CP3 amid a 6-18 start.</p><p>Paul’s voice couldn’t have resonated the way it once did because the audience’s age had changed, as had his impact on the basketball court — making things infinitely more difficult. Paul was averaging 2.9 points and 3.3 assists in 14.3 minutes before he was abruptly sent home in the middle of the night. Aging NBA stars can sympathize with an All-Star losing a step or two, but this felt as if it went beyond Chris’ game and his approach.</p><p>Sending one of your franchise’s all-time best players home on the road during the wee hours feels way more personal than most shocking NBA moves in recent history.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

How Chris Paul planted seeds for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder dynasty

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-ditches-injury-report-suns-clash');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ditches injury report for Suns clash');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunder-guard-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-2-reacts-after-making-a-basket.jpg"><figcaption>Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ditches injury report for Suns clash</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-09T17:11:51-08:00">December 9th, 5:11pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-09T17:43:30-08:00">December 9th, 5:43pm</time><address><a>Rexwell Villas</a>Rexwell Villas is an experienced sports writer covering a variety of sports, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and college football. He's a Communications Arts graduate from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, and he claims to have JR Smith's conscience with his shot selection. He has won a basketball, a baseball, and a football championship in fantasy all within a year.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Oklahoma City Thunder superstar guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is on track to return <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-ruled-out-jazz-elbow-injury">from a one-game absence</a> and play in this Wednesday’s NBA Cup quarterfinal round game against the Phoenix Suns at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.</p><p>The reigning NBA Most Valuable Player is no longer on the league’s official injury report for Wednesday’s game, indicating that Gilgeous-Alexander is <a href="https://ak-static.cms.nba.com/referee/injury/Injury-Report_2025-12-09_06PM.pdf" rel="noopener">ready to give it a go</a> versus the Suns.</p><p>This is clearly a great development for the Thunder, who have done nothing so far in the 2025-26 NBA season but <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/nba-stories/clutchpoints-2025-26-nba-power-rankings-week-7-thunder-dominance-celtics-rise">consistently prove that they’re the best team</a> in the league.</p><p>Even though Gilgeous-Alexander did not suit up in last Sunday’s game between the Thunder and the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City managed to easily score its 23rd win of the season via a 131-101 score.</p><p>That was also the Bolts’ 15th consecutive victory, as they relied on a balanced attack to thwart the Jazz. Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams scored 15 points apiece, while four players from Oklahoma City’s bench gathered at least 11 points, including Aaron Wiggins, who fired 19 points on the strength of five made 3-pointers.</p><p>Gilgeous-Alexander’s return will also likely prompt Ajay Mitchell’s slide back to a bench role for the Thunder, who topped Group A of the Western Conference in the NBA Cup’s group play with a 4-0 record. Among those wins by OKC came at the expense of the Suns, with the Thunder defeating Phoenix, 123-119, at home on Nov. 28.</p><p>The former Kentucky Wildcats star is averaging 32.8 points, 6.4 assists and 4.7 rebounds in his eighth season in the NBA.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2025-26 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
32.2	4.9	6.6	0.8	1.5

2025-26 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
32.2	4.9	6.6	0.8	1.5

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

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