<!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-dwyane-wade-gets-real-on-shai-gilgeous-alexander-ability-to-draw-fouls');   ga('set', 'title', 'Exclusive: Dwyane Wade gets real on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s ability to draw fouls');   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/Dwyane-Wade-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-Miami-Heat-Oklahoma-City-Thunder-Amazon-NBA-on-Prime.jpg"><figcaption>CP</figcaption></figure><h1>Exclusive: Dwyane Wade gets real on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s ability to draw fouls</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-14T18:19:20-08:00">December 14th, 6:19pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-14T18:19:40-08:00">December 14th, 6:19pm</time><address><a>Tomer Azarly</a>Tomer Azarly is in his ninth season as the LA Clippers beat writer and NBA reporter for ClutchPoints. From the Lob City era to the Kawhi Leonard-James Harden era, he brings you everything you need to know about the Clippers as well as coast-to-coast coverage of the NBA.In his free time, Tomer likes to play basketball, video games, and draw.You can follow his Twitter and Instagram for all Clippers content.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>LAS VEGAS, NV — The Oklahoma City Thunder have gotten off to one of the best starts in NBA history, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-why-shai-gilgeous-alexander-chet-holmgren-excited-nba-cup-loss-spurs">winning 24 of their first 25 games</a> to start the 2025-26 regular season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been a big reason for the Thunder’s strong start, but he’s also been the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-unbothered-warriors-fans-heckling">focal point of a lot of people’s frustrations</a> over the last few years.</p><p>Gilgeous-Alexander has been among the league leaders in free throws attempted since rising to stardom and becoming one of the best offensive players in the game. His ability to draw fouls has been praised by some, but criticized by the majority of fans around the NBA.</p><p>Former Miami Heat superstar and NBA on Prime broadcaster Dwyane Wade disagrees with the notion that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should be criticized for being able to draw fouls.</p><p>“Ain’t that the purpose?” Wade responded to ClutchPoints in an interview. “Isn’t the point to actually, like, have a guy that can draw fouls, that can get to the line, that can slow the game down, and that you can count on in the fourth quarter? The best players, the high IQ players find a way to manipulate the game, right? And it’s really about understanding. His understanding of the game, of body movement, of defenses, he’s smart enough to know how to get the call. Like, you know what I mean? And so I don’t feel like that’s a bad thing.”</p><p>Dwyane Wade played 16 years in the NBA, including 15 year with the Miami Heat. He’s known as one of the best shooting guards in NBA history and one of the best at drawing contact.</p><p>It should come as no surprise, then, that Wade feels like Gilgeous-Alexander’s abilities to draw contact are underrated.</p><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunders-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-1.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>“I actually think it’s a great thing that he’s learned this skill that only a few like James Harden had it in Houston. He found a way to manipulate the game and use the rules to his advantage. That’s not a bad thing if he’s playing within the rules and using them to his advantage.</p><p>“I think the more you talk about it, actually, the worse it gets. Because the players get more anxious, more anxiety guarding him, so credit to him for having so much in his bag that he can do anything on the floor that keeps his defender off-balance so much that he’s able to get angles on them, he’s able to put them in uncomfortable situations where he can take advantage of them not being chest-to-chest in front of him.”</p><p>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the NBA in scoring last season at 32.7 points per game to go along with his 5.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists ,and 1.7 steals per game. He was also incredibly efficient, shooting 51.9 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from three, and 89.9 percent from the free throw line. </p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Steve Nash link up after the Thunder-Spurs NBA Cup semifinal.</p><p>The Canadian connection 🇨🇦</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TomerAzarly</a>) <a href="https://t.co/Ore5bqCQUz">pic.twitter.com/Ore5bqCQUz</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/2000111250903355756?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>This season, <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/2000111250903355756?s=20">Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging</a> 32.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and 1.4 steals in two fewer minutes per game, but is even more efficient than he was last year at 56 percent shooting from the field, 43.7 percent from three, and 88.4 percent from the free throw line.</p><p>Given the improvements Gilgeous-Alexander has made this season, Dwyane Wade tells ClutchPoints he’s even more impressed by the 2024-25 regular season MVP and the NBA Finals MVP.</p><p>“It’s just really really impressive,” Wade added of Gilgeous-Alexander. “I think just watching him come back this year, after winning the championship, winning all the awards last year, and seeing him be better at things that he maybe wasn’t as good at last year. It shows you just his commitment to his craft and you know, you have to give him so much respect because we know how hard it is to block out everything that’s going on in the world, block out your responsibilities that you have at home as a father and still be getting better at your craft after all the success. He’s special, and I think this year, we’re getting a chance to really see just how special.”</p><p>Through the first quarter of the season, the Oklahoma City Thunder appear to be runaway favorites for the 2026 NBA Championship. A second consecutive championship by the Thunder would mark the first back-to-back champion in the NBA since the 2017 and 2018 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Exclusive: Dwyane Wade gets real on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s ability to draw fouls

<!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-why-shai-gilgeous-alexander-chet-holmgren-excited-nba-cup-loss-spurs');   ga('set', 'title', 'Why Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren are ‘excited’ about NBA Cup loss to Spurs');   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-Chet-Holmgren-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Why Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren are ‘excited’ about NBA Cup loss to Spurs</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-14T11:00:32-08:00">December 14th, 11:00am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-14T11:00:32-08:00">December 14th, 11:00am</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>After the Oklahoma City Thunder lost to Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren put the NBA Cup elimination game into perspective after their two-point loss (111-109). Coach <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-how-mark-daigneault-credited-spurs-beyond-victor-wembanyama">Mark Daigneault credited Wembanyama and the Spurs’ effort</a>, outplaying the Thunder after the opening frame, where three starters and Victor scored 22+ points.</p><p>After the game, Gilgeous-Alexander he’s <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/47301200/thunder-shrug-loss-spurs-excited-challenge" rel="noopener">eager to learn from the loss</a>, and believes his teammates look at the defeat through a similar lens, as a way for the Thunder to improve, he said, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon</p><p>“Personally, I think it’s exciting,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s easier to learn when you don’t feel the way you want to feel. It stings a little bit more.</p><p>“We’ll also see these guys [twice in the next five] games. So, it will be a good challenge. Kind of like an automatic test, almost like in school. You fail the test, you get to retest a couple days later. That’s what it will probably feel like. Losing is where you find growth and where you really get better.”</p><p>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder will face the Spurs two more times between now and Christmas Day, including a road game on December 23.</p><p>“We can’t be spoiled,” Gilgeous-Alexander added. “We can’t think we’re above anything. Us, along with every team in the league, if you show up on a night and don’t do the necessary thing to win, you probably won’t win, no matter how talented or no matter what your record looks like. That was the case for us tonight.”</p><p>Chet Holmgren says he’s “eager and excited” to watch the film from the loss and figure out how to address flaws that were exposed by the Spurs. It’s a teachable moment for the defending champion.</p><h2><b>Mark Daigneault on Victor Wembanyama, Spurs</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunder-coach-Mark-Daigneault.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault reacted to Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs’ two-point win that handed the defending champions its second loss of the season. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-does-all-insane-block-bucket-nba-cup-combo">Gilgeous-Alexander’s 29 points led the Thunder</a>.</p><p>After the loss, Daigneault <a href="https://x.com/Justintohoops/status/2000075983173591190" rel="noopener">talked about</a> Wembanyama and the Spurs’ overall fight throughout the game.</p><p>“Huge, obviously. He has great two-way impact,” Daigneault said. “Obviously, a rim deterrent. He’s a problem on the glass and cerainly was early. Then, he caught his rhythm offensively, make some really tough shots down the stretch. So, credit to him and them. For stretches of the game, though, they played really well without him, too. I didn’t think it was isolated to them.</p><p>“That was a great team win for them — they won as a team. A lot of their guys played well, but he certainly had an impact on the game.”</p><p>The Thunder will host the Clippers on Thursday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Why Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren are ‘excited’ about NBA Cup loss to Spurs

<!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-does-all-insane-block-bucket-nba-cup-combo');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander does it all with insane block-bucket NBA Cup combo');   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_43bbbb.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander does it all with insane block-bucket NBA Cup combo</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-13T22:01:48-08:00">December 13th, 10:01pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-13T22:52:46-08:00">December 13th, 10:52pm</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>While the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 16-game win streak came to an end in a 111-109 NBA Cup semifinals loss to the San Antonio Spurs, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made one of the most impressive plays of the night. In the second half, after <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-starting-5-set-make-season-debut-nba-cup-semifinals-spurs">Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder’s starting five debuted</a> for the first time this season, Shai made a smooth defensive stop on Spurs All-Star Victor Wembanyama.</p><p>In one of <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/2000052651342643663" rel="noopener">his most impressive highlights</a> of the season, Gilgeous-Alexander blocked Wembanyama to jump-start the Thunder’s fast-break before scoring on the other end of the floor.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">SGA BLOCK<br>SGA BUCKET</p><p>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander getting it done on BOTH ends of the court 🔥 </p><p> <a href="https://t.co/gbOUZqZLRd">pic.twitter.com/gbOUZqZLRd</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/2000052651342643663?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 29 points on 12-of-23 shooting, five assists, four rebounds, and one block in the Thunder’s two-point loss to the Spurs. San Antonio hands Oklahoma City its second loss of the season and advances to the NBA Cup finals, where the Spurs will face the New York Knicks in Las Vegas on Tuesday.</p><p>Jalen Williams finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Chet Holmgren added 17 points, including 10-for-12 from the free-throw line, seven rebounds, and one block, and Alex Caruso’s 11 points led the bench.</p><p>Wembanyama led the Spurs’ bench with 22 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks in his return from a calf injury. Devin Vassell’s 23 points led four Spurs players in double figures, including De’Aaron Fox (22 points) and Stephon Castle (22 points), who combined for 44 points.</p><h2><b>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder come up short versus Spurs</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Spurs-All-Star-Victor-Wembanyama.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Thunder All-Star <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-doesnt-love-steve-nash-michael-jordan-comp">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been compared to Michael Jordan</a> for his efficient scoring this season, which only added to the hype surrounding the Spurs’ NBA Cup semifinal game in Las Vegas. After beating the Lakers without All-Star Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs thrived with him, even in a limited role, against the defending champions.</p><p>Wembanyama’s return was the kind of push the Spurs needed, giving them an edge against the defending champion Thunder, as a young, gutsy, talented group, proving themselves in a game that meant more than most regular-season games.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander does it all with insane block-bucket NBA Cup combo

<!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-doesnt-love-steve-nash-michael-jordan-comp');   ga('set', 'title', 'Why Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t love Steve Nash’s Michael Jordan comp');   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/Why-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-doesnt-love-Steve-Nashs-Michael-Jordan-comp.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Why Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t love Steve Nash’s Michael Jordan comp</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-13T21:19:30-08:00">December 13th, 9:19pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-13T21:19:30-08:00">December 13th, 9:19pm</time><address><a>Richard Pereira</a>Richard Pereira joined ClutchPoints in January 2025 as an Associate Editor. He earned his degree from Florida Atlantic University in 2023 and has been covering the school's athletic programs since 2020, having served as a Sports Editor at the FAU University Press. He was granted the unique opportunity to report on the men's basketball team's journey to the Final Four in Houston for FAU Owls Nest during March Madness, consistently striving to grow as a sports journalist.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Oklahoma City Thunder star guard <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-reacts-viral-sam-presti-sonogram-joke">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had some words to share</a> about NBA legend Steve Nash comparing him to Michael Jordan.</p><p>Gilgeous-Alexander is going through the eighth season of his career, his seventh with the Thunder. He has risen through the ranks to become one of the league’s top stars. He earned the MVP Award last season then went on to lead Oklahoma City to the championship.</p><p>The star guard and the Thunder are on the quest for a repeat as they are off to a historic start to the 2025-26 season. Gilgeous-Alexander’s success resulted in Nash giving him the Jordan comparison, <a href="https://x.com/RTNBA/status/2000019036738818554?s=20" rel="noopener">something that he reacted to</a> during his interview with Taylor Rooks.</p><p>“Pretty insane. I don’t really love the comparisons just because he’s done so many things for the game of basketball. If you ask me though I’m still very far away. I got a lot of work to do,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">SGA on Steve Nash comparing him to Jordan:</p><p>“Pretty insane. I don’t really love the comparisons just because he’s done so many things for the game of basketball. If you ask me though I’m still very far away. I got a lot of work to do”</p><p>h/t <a href="https://twitter.com/ohnohedidnt24?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ohnohedidnt24</a> <a href="https://t.co/cFwIkFoWJO">pic.twitter.com/cFwIkFoWJO</a></p><p>— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/RTNBA/status/2000019036738818554?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 14, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><h2><b>How Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder played against Spurs</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Why-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-doesnt-love-Steve-Nashs-Michael-Jordan-comp-2.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>It’s clear that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander highly respects Michael Jordan’s impact on the game of basketball. It was enough for him to downplay Steve Nash’s comparison while understanding that his contributions on the court can only get better.</p><p>In the meantime, the Thunder had a 16-game win streak going into their NBA Cup semifinal matchup against the San Antonio Spurs. Despite his efforts, the streak came to an end after falling 111-109.</p><p>Perimeter shooting made the difference in this matchup. The Spurs prevailed in this category by making 13 3-pointers on a 31% success clip. It wasn’t the same for the Thunder as they knocked down nine triples at a 24% rate.</p><p>Five players scored in double-digits for Oklahoma City in the loss, including Gilgeous-Alexander. He finished with a stat line of 29 points, five assists, four rebounds, and a steal. He shot 12-of-23 from the field, including 1-of-7 from beyond the arc, and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. Jalen Williams came next with 17 points and seven rebounds, Chet Holmgren had 17 points and seven rebounds, Alex Caruso put up 11 points and eight rebounds, while Isaiah Hartenstein provided 10 points and eight rebounds.</p><p>Oklahoma City fell to a 24-2 record on the season but remain at the top of the Western Conference standings. They are five games above the Denver Nuggets and 5.5 games above the Spurs.</p><p>The Thunder will look to bounce back in their next matchup, being at home. They host the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 18 at 8 p.m. ET.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Why Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t love Steve Nash’s Michael Jordan comp

<!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-reacts-viral-sam-presti-sonogram-joke');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reacts to viral Sam Presti sonogram joke');   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-i.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reacts to viral Sam Presti sonogram joke</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-13T13:25:10-08:00">December 13th, 1:25pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-13T13:25:10-08:00">December 13th, 1:25pm</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>Ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s NBA Cup semifinal game against the San Antonio Spurs, All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reacted to a viral Sam Presti sonogram joke in a recent interview with Rachel Nichols. While the defending champion <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-reveals-nba-cup-hunter-mentality">Thunder enter Saturday’s matchup with a hunter’s mentality</a>, as Gilgeous-Alexander revealed is their apporach, he had a funny reaction to Presti showing up for Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo’s baby sonogram.</p><p>Gilgeous-Alexander <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1999925735553990708" rel="noopener">joked about</a> Thunder GM Sam Presti ahead of facing the Spurs, per All The Smoke’s X, formerly Twitter.</p><p>“Sam takes his job very seriously, and whatever it takes to be great, he will do so if that’s what it takes, that’s what it takes,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“Sam takes his job very seriously, and whatever it takes to be great, he will do so if that’s what it takes, that’s what it takes.”</p><p>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the idea of Sam Presti being at Bam Adebayo and A’ja Wilson's sonogram.</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/allthesmokeprod?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@allthesmokeprod</a>)<a href="https://t.co/6yggx6QXvo">pic.twitter.com/6yggx6QXvo</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1999925735553990708?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 13, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Shai, and his wife, Hailey Summers, welcomed a baby boy named, Ares, in April of 2024. Presti, revered as one of the NBA’s best GMs, is seen as the mastermind who put together what could be the league’s next dynasty. Amidst a rebuild, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/4-moves-thunder-gm-sam-presti-made-paved-way-nba-next-potential-dynasty">Presti positioned the Thunder toward its first championship</a> in franchise history. Then, he re-signed his core players — SGA, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren — to max contract extensions over the summer.</p><h2><b>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reveals 2025-26 Thunder’s mentality </b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunder-All-Star-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-ii.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Thunder All-Star <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-reveals-nba-cup-hunter-mentality">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander addressed his team’s mentality</a> heading into Saturday’s NBA Cup semifinal game against the Spurs, which hasn’t changed throughout the regular season. The old saying of a defending champion going from the hunters to the hunted doesn’t apply to this year’s Thunder team.</p><p>For Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder’s approach hasn’t changed from last season, as <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1999617408479428958" rel="noopener">his team continues to grow</a> in cohesion with an overall goal of becoming the NBA’s first back-to-back champions since the Warriors.</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>While Gilgeous-Alexander is having another MVP-caliber season, averaging 32.6 points on 56.2% shooting, including a 45.4% clip from deep, 6.5 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game this season, the Thunder will look to extend its franchise-best winning streak to 17 in Saturday’s NBA Cup semifinal game against the Spurs.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reacts to viral Sam Presti sonogram joke

<!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>

Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ditches injury report for Suns clash

<!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-ruled-out-jazz-elbow-injury');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ruled out vs. Jazz with elbow injury');   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-2.jpg"><figcaption>Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ruled out vs. Jazz with elbow injury</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-07T06:57:50-08:00">December 7th, 6:57am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-07T07:15:12-08:00">December 7th, 7:15am</time><address><a>Malik Brown</a>Malik Brown is a multimedia reporter based in Atlanta who covers the Hawks and Dream for ClutchPoints. Malik has worked in entertainment and sports, and he specializes in the NBA and NFL.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Oklahoma City <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/why-2025-26-the-promising-season-chet-holmgren-thunder-been-waiting-for">Thunder have been the best team</a> in the NBA this season, and it looks like they’ve gotten better from last season when they won the NBA championship. They will be facing the Utah Jazz next, but their star player <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/47233228/thunder-shai-gilgeous-alexander-elbow-vs-jazz" rel="noopener">will be out</a>, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is dealing with an elbow injury.</p><p>This doesn’t seem like a serious injury for Gilgeous-Alexander, and there’s a good chance that he will probably return for the Thunder’s next game. Gilgeous-Alexander has been relatively healthy for most of his career, which has been a key to his success, and it’s leading him in MVP talks this season already, as he’s averaging 32.8 points, 6.4 assists, and 4.7 rebounds.</p><p>The way that the Thunder have been playing this season, they may not need Gilgeous-Alexander to win this game. Their depth has been amazing this season, and almost everybody who is active on the roster has made some kind of impact on the games.</p><p>At the same time, Gilgeous-Alexander is not the only player out due to injury, as Alex Caruso, Lu Dort, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Isaiah Joe have been ruled out for the game. That means that Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren will be key for the Thunder in this game.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-jalen-williams-reveals-he-not-fully-healed-wrist-injury">Williams just returned from his wrist injury</a>, and he shared that he is not fully healed yet.</p><p>“My wrist being healthy is going to be an ongoing thing. It’s not like this surgery was a boom — you’re healthy,” Williams said. “A lot of it is trying to get my rhythm back [by] getting to the free-throw line, getting a couple of easy layups, trying to get the mentality down of driving, and playing with force. When I haven’t played for so long, that’s usually the hardest part to get back into. So, the more I can attack that, everything else will fall into place.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ruled out vs. Jazz with elbow injury

<!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-explains-viral-caption');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander explains viral Instagram caption');   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-star-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-vs-Mavericks.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander explains viral Instagram caption</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-06T08:10:42-08:00">December 6th, 8:10am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-06T08:10:42-08:00">December 6th, 8:10am</time><address><a>Yasmin Edañol</a>Yasmin D.G. Edañol is a PhD candidate in Chemistry at the University of the Philippines Diliman, with a background in scientific research and publishing. He brings a data-driven perspective to sports storytelling as an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints, with a focus on the NBA. Whether it's breaking down a clutch play or a stat line, he believes every great moment has a deeper layer waiting to be uncovered.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-how-cason-wallace-defensive-potential-unlocked-friendly-team-competition">Oklahoma City Thunder are ripping through the NBA regular season</a>, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander keeps finding new ways to shape every conversation on and off the court. After the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-mark-daigneault-reveals-how-held-anthony-davis-2-points-blowout-win">Thunder stretched their win streak to new heights by crushing the Dallas Mavericks</a>, the star guard weighed in on the viral caption that dominated the timeline. Thunder fans already know <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DRk2t2fkTuP/?img_index=1" rel="noopener">his voice</a>. They know the rhythm.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="instagram-media"><div style="padding: 16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DRk2t2fkTuP/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="line-height: 0; padding: 0 0; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 100%;" target="_blank"> <div style="display: flex;"><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div><div style="display: flex;"><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div><div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"><div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div><div style="display: flex; margin-bottom: 14px;"><div><div></div><div></div><div></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div><div></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"><div></div><div></div><div></div></div></div><div style="display: flex; margin-bottom: 24px;"><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div><div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div><p></p></a></div></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>They know <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-quote-viral">how Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s posts hit differently</a> when the team sits at 22-1 and controls the West. But this one? It turned the whole timeline. Asked about “how can I go back and forth if I’m not really back in fourths?” he <a href="https://x.com/NBAonPrime/status/1997175579078963311" rel="noopener">laughed and admitted</a>, “I gotta step my Instagram captions up, I guess.” Even Blake Griffin jumped in on the fun, joking that he’s taking notes for future captions.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"I gotta step my Instagram captions up, I guess" 😂<a href="https://twitter.com/blakegriffin23?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@blakegriffin23</a> has been inspired after SGA spoke with the crew on how he comes up with his captions ✍️<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAonPrime?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAonPrime</a> <a href="https://t.co/07bgKigs6r">pic.twitter.com/07bgKigs6r</a></p><p>— NBA on Prime (@NBAonPrime) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBAonPrime/status/1997175579078963311?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 6, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2>A Thunder streak in motion</h2><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-winning-every-game-30-sounds-great-here-why-close-games-help">Thunder’s run has reached 14 straight wins</a>, a surge built on pace, poise, and the steady force that is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Against the Mavericks, his command never wavered. Every step-back felt sharp. Every read felt intentional. He <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-passes-wilt-chamberlain-blazers">continues to string together an MVP-level season</a>: 32.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.4 assists, and elite efficiency across the board, all while holding turnovers low and steals high. This is a star in complete control — of the game, of the tempo, of the story.</p><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-what-anthony-davis-said-getting-shut-down-thunder">Mavericks matched the Thunder early, tied after one</a>. Then Oklahoma City detonated the game. A 77–47 burst in the second and third quarters flipped the arena into chaos as the crowd erupted and the lead ballooned. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/dallas-mavericks/mavericks-news-anthony-davis-struggles-thunder-fans-worried">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander spent most of the fourth watching the celebration</a>. The Thunder moved to 22–1, while the Mavericks fell to 8–16 and 12th in the West — a team searching for answers after dropping six of ten.</p><p>So when SGA drops a line, online or on the court, it resonates. It travels. It sticks.</p><p>If the Thunder keep winning at this pace, how long before Shai Gilgeous-Alexander turns this streak into something even bigger?</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander explains viral Instagram caption

<!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-unbothered-warriors-fans-heckling');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander totally unbothered by Warriors fan’s heckling');   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/2025/11/Thunder-All-Star-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander_78fdf5.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander totally unbothered by Warriors fan’s heckling</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-04T09:18:27-08:00">December 4th, 9:18am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-04T09:18:27-08:00">December 4th, 9:18am</time><address><a>Malik Brown</a>Malik Brown is a multimedia reporter based in Atlanta who covers the Hawks and Dream for ClutchPoints. Malik has worked in entertainment and sports, and he specializes in the NBA and NFL.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Oklahoma City <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-winning-every-game-30-sounds-great-here-why-close-games-help">Thunder are playing like the best team</a> in the league this season, and their record shows it, as they’re currently 21-1. Nothing much has changed from what they were doing last season to lead them to the NBA championship, but it would not be a surprise if they got better. It definitely looks like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may have gotten better, which is scary because he just won MVP last season.</p><p>Gilgeous-Alexander’s success has come with a lot of haters, especially the ones who don’t like the way he plays the game. He’s heard the free-throw merchant title for some time now, and he’s still hearing it. Take, for example, after their game against the Golden State Warriors, he was walking to the locker room, and a fan <a href="https://x.com/MrBuckBuckNBA/status/1996461299660956149?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1996461299660956149%7Ctwgr%5E6ba040343b9674f8395bd8d4f79385afb78b5460%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hoopshype.com%2Frumors%2F" rel="noopener">started heckling him</a> about free throws.</p><p>“Let’s flop for more free throws, baby,” the heckler said. “You can do it. You can break the free-throw record by flopping a little bit more. I want to see a Black man win. You’re good enough to win the right way.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">A Warriors fan told Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to stop flopping for free throws, and SGA politely signing and smiling to his fans<a href="https://t.co/dkK5XQHiWM">pic.twitter.com/dkK5XQHiWM</a></p><p>— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrBuckBuckNBA/status/1996461299660956149?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 4, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>In that situation, Gilgeous-Alexander could have fired back at the fan and said something, but that’s not the kind of person he is. Instead, the reigning MVP looked the fan in his eyes and started to laugh at him, showing him that he isn’t bothered by what he has to say.</p><p>In their win against the Warriors, Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 38 points and made seven of his ten free throws. That doesn’t seem like an egregious amount of free throws, but once people have a perception about you, it’s hard to change it.</p><p>Gilgeous-Alexander has shown throughout his career that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-free-throw-merchant-label-hawks">he doesn’t need free throws to be successful</a>, and he’s shown it several times this season. The main thing is that he doesn’t let the narrative affect how he plays the game, and he’s still dominating at a high level.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander totally unbothered by Warriors fan’s heckling

<!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-earns-michael-jordan-comparison-paul-pierce');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander earns Michael Jordan comparison from Paul Pierce');   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_1fa0b8.jpg"><figcaption>Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander earns Michael Jordan comparison from Paul Pierce</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-01T09:54:29-08:00">December 1st, 9:54am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-01T09:54:29-08:00">December 1st, 9:54am</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>While Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-does-best-michael-jordan-impression-historic-feat">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reached a historic feat</a> shared with Michael Jordan, Paul Pierce drew a strong comparison between the league’s reigning MVP and the Hall of Fame guard. Following the Thunder’s 123-115 win against the Portland Blazers, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-dang-bro-jalen-williams-awe-shai-gilgeous-alexanders-ridiculous-streak">Gilgeous-Alexander reached his 93rd consecutive 20+ point game</a>. He’s surpassed Wilt Chamberlain’s record of 92.</p><p>After the game, Pierce described Gilgeous-Alexander’s <a href="https://twitter.com/Fullcourtpass/status/1995496364298674595" rel="noopener">aura as similar</a> to Hall of Fame guard Michael Jordan, he said, per No Fouls Given.</p><p>“You can’t stop him. He’s starting to give me that Jordan presence. Like, seriously,” Pierce said. “I’m looking like he gonna get 30. We had Kobe, LeBron, KD, and they’ll have big nights, but this dude is consistent 30s. Like, c’mon, man.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Paul Pierce compares SGA to Michael Jordan</p><p>“You can’t stop him. He’s starting to give me that Jordan presence. He gonna get 30. We had Kobe, LeBron, KD, and they’ll have big nights, but this dude is consistent 30s”</p><p>(Via <a href="https://twitter.com/NFGShow?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NFGShow</a>, h/t <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA__Courtside?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBA__Courtside</a>)<a href="https://t.co/kBWQmcCZE8">pic.twitter.com/kBWQmcCZE8</a></p><p>— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) <a href="https://twitter.com/Fullcourtpass/status/1995496364298674595?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 26 points on 8-of-15 shooting, five assists, and one steal in Sunday’s win against the Blazers. After the game, Thunder All-Star Jalen Williams was in awe that his teammate had reached the second-longest 20+ point game streak with his 93rd consecutive performance.</p><p>“Pretty impressive streak. Of 20 [points] you say? Dang, bro,” Williams said. “That’s pretty insane. I think seeing him work out in the summer, seeing him work tireless on his body, and his craft, it’s not so much of a shock to me to hear that stat. He works hard enough, and he outworks a lot of the competition to where it’s like almost a little bit expected.”</p><p>Having a front-row seat to watching the league’s reigning scoring champion, you can almost forget how elite a scorer SGA is compared to the rest of the league, as Jalen admits.</p><p>“We probably take that for granted,” Williams added. “Then, when you see a stat like that, it kind of puts it back into perspective. Just how hard he works and trying to perfect his craft, it also doesn’t shock me.”</p><h2><b>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander draws a Michael Jordan comparison</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunder-All-Star-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-2.jpg"><figcaption>Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reached a feat through 19 games that Hall of Fame guard Michael Jordan last matched. Amid the second-longest streak of 20+ point games in NBA history, Gilgeous-Alexander is also stacking up <a href="https://x.com/espninsights/status/1994061241321435230" rel="noopener">30+ point performances</a> through his first 20 games of the 2025-26 campaign, per ESPN Insights.</p><p>“Shai Gilgeous-Alexander became just the second player in the last 50 seasons to have 16 30-point performances through 19 games of the season. The other is Michael Jordan, who did it 17 times in the 1986-87 season,” ESPN Insights reported.</p><p>Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 32.5 points on 54.5/41.4/88.7 shooting splits, 6.6 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game this season. What’s most impressive about SGA tying Jordan’s record through 19 games is how many times he’s scored 30+ points in three quarters of a Thunder victory.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander earns Michael Jordan comparison from Paul Pierce

<!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-dang-bro-jalen-williams-awe-shai-gilgeous-alexanders-ridiculous-streak');   ga('set', 'title', '‘Dang, bro!’ Thunder’s Jalen Williams in awe of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s ridiculous streak');   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-Jalen-Williams.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>‘Dang, bro!’ Thunder’s Jalen Williams in awe of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s ridiculous streak</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-01T08:44:27-08:00">December 1st, 8:44am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-01T09:16:19-08:00">December 1st, 9:16am</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>Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-passes-wilt-chamberlain-blazers">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has the second-longest streak</a> of scoring 20+ points in NBA history, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain’s 92-game streak, which got a strong reaction from All-Star Jalen Williams. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 26 points on 8-of-15 shooting in Sunday’s 123-115 win against the Portland Blazers. The victory extends the Thunder’s winning streak to 12. Oklahoma City is 20-1.</p><p>After the win, Williams found out about Gilgeous-Alexander’s <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1995516408869081520" rel="noopener">streak of scoring 20+ points</a> in 93 consecutive games, topped by an eight-point win against the Blazers on the road.</p><p>“Pretty impressive streak. Of 20 [points] you say? Dang, bro,” Williams said. “That’s pretty insane. I think seeing him workout in the summer, seeing him work tireless on his body, and his craft, it’s not so much of a shock to me to hear that stat. He works hard enough, and he outworks a lot of the competition to where it’s like almost a little bit expected.”</p><p>Having a front-row seat to watching the league’s reigning scoring champion, you can almost forget how elite of a scorer SGA is compared to the rest of the league, as Jalen admits.</p><p>“We probably take that for granted,” Williams added. “Then, when you see a stat like that, it kind of puts it back into perspective. Just how hard he works and trying to perfect his craft, it also, doesn’t shock me.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Dang bro… He works hard enough, and he outworks a lot of the competition."</p><p>Jalen Williams on SGA extending his streak of scoring 20+ to 93 games, 2nd only to Wilt Chamberlain 🤯</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBA</a>)<a href="https://t.co/IiaIr5js9t">pic.twitter.com/IiaIr5js9t</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1995516408869081520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 1, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>In only his second game of the regular season, Jalen Williams finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and three blocks in the Thunder’s win against the Trail Blazers. Chet Holmgren added 19 points and nine rebounds, and Ajay Mitchell’s 17 points and five assists led the bench.</p><h2><b>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander passes Wilt Chamberlain in Thunder win</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunder-All-Star-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander.jpg"><figcaption>Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander surpassed Wilt Chamberlain’s second-longest streak of scoring 20+ points with his 93rd consecutive 20+ point performance in a win against the Trail Blazers. While Chamberlain’s long streak of scoring 20 or more points still stands at a whopping 126 consecutive games, his second-longest streak was 92. This comes after <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1995516408869081520">Gilgeous-Alexander joined Michael Jordan amid his impressive start</a> to the regular season.</p><p>In a tightly contested game, the Blazers nearly snapped Gilgeous-Alexander’s streak altogether, on Sunday, as he had managed just 16 points with four minutes remaining. Then, the reigning MVP exploded down the stretch, scoring 10 points to secure the win. His fadeaway with 4:18 left stretched the Thunder’s lead to 107-100, a crucial basket in a game with 28 lead changes.</p><p>Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder will face the Warriors on the road on Tuesday.</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 news

Shai
Gilgeous-Alexander news