Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was accused of ‘foul-baiting’ as the Oklahoma City Thunder stomped the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.
The presumptive NBA MVP, who reminded everyone why he is the favorite for the award last week, took over in the second half of a convincing 114-88 win, with 20 of his 31 points coming in the third and fourth quarters.
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SGA added five rebounds, nine assists and three steals on an impressive outing, but as the dust settles, the basketball world is focusing on the apparent ‘soft’ calls that go in his favor.
Accusations of foul-baiting — the art of exaggerating contact to draw fouls and get to the free-throw line — have long been levelled at the Thunder star.
On Tuesday night, Gilgeous-Alexander spent a significant amount of time at the line, and was granted seven free throw attempts in the first quarter alone.
Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards appeared particularly frustrated with SGA’s tactics.
Early in the game, Gilgeous-Alexander drew a foul on Jaden McDaniels and ended up sprawled on the floor under the basket.
Edwards, who had the dead ball in his hands after the whistle, tossed it towards his opponent, and it hit him on the leg.
The ball toss by Edwards drew a technical foul, and instead of just two free throws for the personal foul, SGA was awarded a third thanks to the technical.
Edwards also risked drawing another tech in the second quarter, in an incident that ended with Gilgeous-Alexander on the floor.
Fortunately for the Minnesota star, who once had a bold exchange with Barack Obama, he instead drew a personal foul that didn’t result in his ejection.
The frustration in the Timberwolves ranks was clear to see, and head coach Chris Finch later reminded his players that if they want to prevail, they must focus on the game, rather than the calls around SGA.
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“There was a lot of frustration out there,” Finch admitted.
He then revealed the plan for the rest of the series and to move on quickly with the next play.
“But we talked about that before the series started, and we have to be able to kind of put that to the side and get on with the next play mentality.”
Gilgeous-Alexander’s reputation was also referenced by Doris Burke on Tuesday night.
During the Game 1 broadcast, SGA was described as a ‘great free throw shooter’ by Mike Breen, before the veteran NBA analyst commented: “There’s a reason NBA Twitter likes to call him the ‘free throw merchant,’ Mike.”
As Burke suggested, social media was widely critical of Gilgeous-Alexander’s tactics against Minnesota.
“SGA has foul baited on every single possession to start this game and the refs are giving him every call. Seven free throw attempts in less than five minutes of a conference finals playoffs game. This is nasty,” one fan wrote.
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“I don’t care who wins this game. The touch foul calls SGA gets are really awful. They don’t resemble anything else that’s happening in the playoffs,” another said.
“SGA created the contact then started stumbling to make it look like he got fouled. NBA needs to stop rewarding players for this garbage style of play. It’s trash,” a third argued.
Everything that SGA does, of course, is within the laws of the game.
His job is to help the Thunder win, and as shown against the Timberwolves, he does that very well.
It is not up to SGA to be an ‘ethical’ or ‘entertaining’ basketball player, but instead, it is perhaps the NBA’s job to create an environment in which he is less likely to go hunting for fouls.
Oklahoma City and Minnesota will meet in Game 2 of the West finals on Thursday night.
