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Not too long ago, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was a recent first-round pick who found himself involved in a trade between the Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder. This was a deal that kickstarted a rebuild in OKC while LA pushed their chips in to contend for a championship with Paul George. Several years later, this trade turned out to be the blueprint for the Thunder to make the 2025 NBA Finals.
Gilgeous-Alexander was chosen to be the face of Oklahoma City's rebuild, a decision that has put this organization four wins away from a championship. After taking down the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals on Wednesday night, the Thunder are now closing in on basketball immortality.
All season, Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder have been the best in the NBA. Oklahoma City won a franchise-record 68 games, and the star point guard won the league's MVP award, joining Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook as the only players in team history to win the award.
Despite the scrutiny he receives for drawing free throws, like virtually every other superstar in today's game, Gilgeous-Alexander has set the standard for the new generation of players set to take over as the faces of the league when LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant head out.
However, unlike many stars who tend to live beyond the 3-point line and dazzle fans with their flashy plays, Gilgeous-Alexander's all-around abilities as an offensive juggernaut may have saved the NBA from an irreversible path of everyone shooting threes.
“I want to say something about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. I think SGA saved the NBA,” former NBA All-Star Jeff Teague stated on his Club 520 Podcast show. “I’m not saying because of how he performed, but the way he play, he saved the NBA because the NBA is a copycat league and he perfected the mid-range game. Right? He brought back the ability to be able to shoot mid-range shots.”
Teague brings up a great point about the way the NBA has changed in recent years. While players like Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and LeBron dominated at the rim and in the mid-range area in the 2000s and early 2010s eras, Curry changed the game with this 3-point shooting.
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Analytics began taking over basketball, and so many teams began adopting the philosophy of taking as many threes as possible because the data supported a better offense over mid-range shots. In recent years, while 3-point shooting is at a premium, the mid-range game is becoming a factor again, specifically with Gilgeous-Alexander.
It is never a good thing when players are constantly going from one end of the court to the other only seeing 3-point shots being taken, as this was a major complaint regarding the league during the 2024-25 season and especially during recent All-Star Games. That is why Teague believes Gilgeous-Alexander has helped save the NBA — because he doesn't rely on the 3-point line to be elite.
“The game was either a three or a layup. I got crucified in Minnesota for wanting to shoot a mid-range shot if it wasn’t a three or a layup for analytics,” Teague continued. “And him being the MVP and his go-to shot is a mid-range shot, he literally just saved the NBA and basketball because that is a shot that if you could perfect it, you're always going to get a good shot. It's always a good shot. Defenses are made for you to take that shot, and he perfected it.
“And now, it looks crazy because y'all let him get to his bread and butter, and he's scoring at will.”
Gilgeous-Alexander has one of the most complete offensive games in the league. It not only resulted in him being named the 2024-25 NBA MVP, but it has also put the Thunder in the NBA Finals.
It is Shai's time to shine and prove to everyone that he can be the face of the league moving forward.
