Former Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone provided some insight Thursday night into what makes Oklahoma City Thunder guard and reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander such a difficult player to guard.
During an appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt, Malone noted that SGA’s ability to draw fouls puts defenders in a tough situation when they attempt to get physical with him.
“You gotta be ultra disciplined,” Malone said. “It’s almost impossible. … A lot of times offensive players like Shai will initiate the contact, will hook his arm looking to draw that contact. He is a foul artist.”
Fresh off being named NBA MVP for the first time in his career on Wednesday, Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals on Thursday.
In a 118-103 victory to go up 2-0 in the series, SGA scored a game-high 38 points on 12-of-21 shooting from the field, in addition to going 13-of-15 from the free-throw line.
During the regular season, Gilgeous-Alexander was second in the league in free-throw attempts per game with 8.8, placing him behind only Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 10.6
SGA also led the NBA with 7.9 free throws made per game by virtue of shooting 89.8 percent from the charity stripe. On average, he made 1.4 more free throws per game than Giannis and Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young, who tied for second.
Observers and analysts have often debated whether Gilgeous-Alexander gets the benefit of the doubt when it comes to foul calls, and during his appearance on SportsCenter, Malone seemed to feed into that narrative, calling SGA’s whistle “favorable.”
Before getting fired with only three games remaining in the 2024-25 regular season, Malone was the Nuggets’ head coach for 10 seasons.
He won a championship in Denver and played a role in center Nikola Jokić winning three NBA MVP Awards. Jokić finished second this year, as Gilgeous-Alexander beat him out in the voting while also eliminating the Nuggets in the second round of the playoffs.
Per ESPN, Malone said Gilgeous-Alexander “showed why he’s the MVP” following his 31-point effort in Game 1 against Minnesota, but he later said that he would have voted for Jokić as MVP if he had a vote.
Regardless, Gilgeous-Alexander is still going strong in the playoffs and has OKC just two wins away from its first NBA Finals appearance since 2012.
The Thunder can take another step toward the Finals on Saturday when they travel to Minnesota to take on the T-Wolves in Game 3.
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