Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ‘wanting his lick back’ peeves NBA fans: “Fake tuff guy”

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a rather questionable quote given his background that NBA fans pointed out on social media.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ‘wanting his lick back’ peeves NBA fans: “Fake tuff guy”

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

At -4000 odds for the Michael Jordan MVP trophy, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is playing the best basketball of his life. His OKC Thunder team, on the same note, is having the best regular-season campaign in franchise history. They are currently 65-14, over five wins better than their previous best record, set in 2012-13. The team is the heavy favorites at the moment to win the Western Conference playoffs.

SGA, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is also commonly known, is currently averaging 32.7 points per game. He’s having a career high in scoring as well as efficiency with a true shooting percentage of 63.7%. Gilgeous-Alexander’s 3-pointer is now also a lethal weapon, both on spot-ups as well as pull-ups. SGA is also averaging 1 block per game, having one of the best defensive seasons ever by a volume scoring guard.

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The OKC Thunder went up against the third-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in a pair of games this past week. Luka Doncic and the Lakers sealed a comprehensive win in the first fixture at Paycom Center. The top seeds in the NBA got their revenge in two days as Doncic was ejected with two technicals, helping them blow a tight one-possession game wide open. Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 42 points in the win, was elated after the game to ‘get his lick’ back.

You get beat up in the hood and you spin back the next day, you can’t get beat up again. It’s not an option. Tonight was going to be a fight. We had to, I guess you could say, get our lick back.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said as he walked out of their home arena

Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder have, as the youngest NBA team currently, brought a youthful energy with them. However, not every quote that comes out of the locker room would sound mature. For someone born and brought up by an Olympics athlete and who had a relatively easy upbringing, making references to the hood does not make for great optics.

NBA fans roast Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for his words

As expected, the bulk of NBA fandom has been critical of how SGA sounded in his postgame soundbite. With Ja Morant already under fire similarly for trying to associate with customs of the hood despite being brought up by good parents in a suburban setting, Gilgeous-Alexander has allowed fans to attribute more ‘gangster cosplay’ to a star NBA player.

Some fans also pointed to the controversial Doncic ejection, which led to more easy defensive possessions for OKC, as invalidating the win and the magnitude of the Thunder’s grudge win.

Irrespective of how Lakers fans might feel due to the nature of their loss on the night, Gilgeous-Alexander did have a faux pas of sorts. He is the leader of the best team in the league. SGA is one of those aiming to become a household name and a face of the league right now.

He could definitely do with more tactful, thoughtful words to express his emotions. It is understandable that the team is on a high. But cosplaying a torrid life just for the cool factor hasn’t won people many fans.