For professional athletes, there's nothing that quite compares to the feeling of playing in one's hometown. On Thursday night, Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got as close of a hometown experience as it can get after playing against the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena, which is around 70 kilometers away from where he grew up in Hamilton, Ontario.
With the Thunder and Raptors playing in different conferences, Gilgeous-Alexander is only able to play in his home country once a year. Thus, his extended family and circle of friends made sure to make this rare opportunity count. During the Thunder's 128-111 defeat to the Raptors, Gilgeous-Alexander's loved ones came in droves to show the nascent guard their support.
The lineup of friends and family of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is outrageous pic.twitter.com/umdIazj4Mq
— Libaan Osman (@libaanstar1) March 17, 2023
Even Shai Gilgeous-Alexander lost count of how many were in attendance to witness a win-win scenario — a Raptors win and a solid performance from the Thunder star. In fact, Gilgeous-Alexander revealed that he didn't even want to know how many would come out and support him so he could just focus on the task at hand.
“Yeah, it was for sure a lot of tickets. I don't know the number, I told them not to tell me just because of my peace of mind. But it was for sure a lot of tickets, ” Gilgeous-Alexander said much to the reporters' laughter, per Toronto Star Sports.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the amount of tickets he had for family and friends in attendance tonight:
“I don’t know the number, I told them not to tell me just because of my peace of mind.” pic.twitter.com/kTEji5mb23
— Toronto Star Sports (@StarSports) March 17, 2023
It also seems like the Thunder star attributes his ability to maintain a tight-knit group of family and friends, as well as his great work ethic that has led to his emergence as one of the best players in the association, to his Hamilton upbringing.
“[Hamilton is] a smaller city. Not that many people go there. It’s not a tourist attraction. Very family-oriented. Not many things to do, so you have no choice but to focus on your craft,” Gilgeous-Alexander added, per Adam Laskaris of Daily Hive.
Gilgeous-Alexander is, without a doubt, committed to the Thunder, at least for the next few years. Nevertheless, it's his connection to the province of Ontario that should fuel rumors of a potential move to the Raptors in the future, unwarranted as those rumors can be at times.
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