Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may take home his first MVP award at the end of the season, as he ranks No. 1 on the NBA’s latest update on the Kia MVP ladder.
While Gilgeous-Alexander is having a spectacular season, many will point to the number of free throws he’s been taking per game. If you ask one of his teammates, though, he’s not getting to the line enough.
“He honestly should go to the free-throw line more,” Thunder forward Jalen Williams said on an appearance on The Young Man and The Three podcast. “He leads the NBA in drives, and we’re like the lowest free-throw shooting team in the NBA. I think there are like six or seven people ahead of him that shoot more free throws. But because the media doesn’t like certain ways he gets fouled, that gets pushed. Just watch the games.”
Gilgeous-Alexander averages 8.8 free-throw attempts, which places him second in the league. Ironically, he didn’t take a single shot at the charity stripe during OKC’s 126-99 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday and got to the line just twice in the Thunder’s 125-111 loss to the Houston Rockets the game before.
The Kentucky product undoubtedly draws a lot of contact on any given night, but there are also times when he might get the benefit of the whistle when it isn’t necessarily deserved.
Whatever the case may be, a lot of NBA fans would prefer to see fewer free-throw attempts per contest. In fact, many often reminisce about the 90s and 2000s, when a player could get knocked to the ground following a hard drive to the rim and the game would just keep rolling along.
Follow The Jugo Mobile on WhatsApp
It’s understandable for Williams to back his teammate, but Gilgeous-Alexander gets to the stripe at a very generous rate, to say the least.
MORE OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER NEWS
Thunder monster trade pitch sends Lu Dort to struggling West team in exchange for 4-time All-Star
NBA champion sends stern message to Thunder after embarrassing loss to Lakers