The Oklahoma City Thunder are playing like the best team 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.

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 started heckling him about free throws.

“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.”

Article Continues Below

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.

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.

Gilgeous-Alexander has shown throughout his career that he doesn't need free throws to be successful, 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.