NBA Fans Call out Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Whistle in Game 4: “Don’t Reward This Trash From SGA”

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander seems to know exactly what to do to get a really favorable whistle, and NBA fans are peeved.

NBA Fans Call out Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Whistle in Game 4: “Don’t Reward This Trash From SGA”

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Image via FirstSportz)

The OKC Thunder have drawn level with the Indiana Pacers and squared the NBA Finals at 2-2. Despite being heavily favored, the team needed a big outing on the night after going down 2-1 in this series. OKC got the response it needed from MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 35 points and put the game away late.

SGA had 15 fourth-quarter points as OKC finished the game with a 16-7 run. His 15 points came in the last 4:38 of the game and cemented his status as an MVP-level performer. He shrugged off stout defense from Aaron Nesmith to put this run together, but not everything he did was approved of by fans. Some noted that he pushed Nesmith off and traveled on a crucial play that gave OKC the lead late in the game.

Nesmith fouled out of the game during this late stretch after more questionable refereeing while he guarded the reigning MVP. One of those calls came when Nesmith barely had a palm on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the OKC guard rose up to draw a shooting foul from the free throw line. The soft nature of this foul immediately led to disgusted reactions from the fans on social media.

Another of these fouls came when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander started a sequence with a push-off on Nesmith. After being unable to create separation, he leaned into the Pacers’ swingman and created contact for yet another jump shot. While this was a textbook foul, it was created solely because of Gilgeous-Alexander initiating the contact throughout the possession. This caused more visceral reactions from NBA Twitter, which has already labeled SGA as a foul baiter.

Gilgeous-Alexander had eight of his 10 free throws in the game coming in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. This extremely skewed stat opened itself up for interpretation from many fans watching the game, who noted that the whistle was tightened late in the game to his benefit. Nonetheless, this was the highest scoring output by a player in the last five minutes of an NBA Finals game since 1971.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander explained his mentality down the stretch in the post-game presser

Accusations of being a foul baiter are now standard fare for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The man has been seen as one for the past three seasons and change. However, OKC’s resurgence to return to the top of the Western Conference for the first time since the Kevin Durant–Russell Westbrook days has brought on a bigger wave of hate for the team, purely because of the exposure they have been getting as contenders.

This takes nothing away from his overall impact. After all, SGA is on track to line up a litany of records to his name if he manages to lead the OKC Thunder to the franchise’s first championship in the Midwest. His focus is on delivering for his teammates and for his fans, who saw some ‘Close, but no cigar’ moments during the early and mid-2010s with KD, Westbrook and James Harden on the team.

Speaking to the press in postgame media availability, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pointed out how he lives for these high-leverage moments:

Absolutely. That’s what it’s all about. Winning, especially this time of the season, comes down to the moments, it’s gonna come down to the late game. Every team is good…I relish those moments, I love those moments, good or bad. When I was a kid shooting in my driveway, I’d count down the clock for those moments.

OKC return home for Game 5 after securing this narrow win on the back of SGA’s heroics. They will need to come up with more offensive support for their MVP, who had no assists on the night due to the team being ice-cold from 3-point range.

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