At the time, hell was promised to this Oklahoma City team orphan of its former glories. After James Harden and Kevin Durant, it was Russell Westbrook and Paul George who folded the saplings, and OKC had bet on a “sophomore” who arrived from the Clippers and a veteran leader, ready to play the role of mentor.
Next to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chris Paul had thus allowed the Thunder to thwart the predictions and take his team to the first round of the playoffs, against all odds.
Among the beautiful stories born of this epic, CP3 has rightly retained the hatching of Gilgeous-Alexander, who has become the leader of the Thunder, and even All-Star. Over the whole of his rich career, Chris Paul even believes that the evolution of SGA is the one that has impressed him the most.
“Over all my career, I would say probably Shai. I’m a little biased because Shai is like my brother. But what’s amazing with Shai is that I saw him in Vegas during the Summer League, he had just been traded from the Clippers to OKC. I reassured him and told him that it was going to be a good situation for him. I was happy for him. And boom, five or six days later, I was transferred to OKC too”, did he remember.
“All the guys on this team kind of helped me find the love of the game again”
For a year, SGA learned a lot alongside Chris Paul, then he was able to fly on his own to continue his progress, and in what way! He continues with two seasons at more than 23 points per game and last season, he invited himself to the best five of the year, the All-NBA First Team, with more than 30 points on average and an All-Star selection. .
And right now, he’s the unofficial MVP of the first round of the World Cup in charge of Canada. A beautiful course born from this beautiful story in 2019/20.
“This year at OKC was probably one of the most important of my career. I had the opportunity to kind of reinvent myself, but whether it was Shai, Darius Bazley, Dennis Schroder, Steven Adams, all the guys on this team kind of helped me find the love of the game again. It’s not that I lost him, but seeing Shai’s evolution when he was my teammate, and now seeing how his game has taken to a whole new level, has rekindled that. I am very happy for him”concluded CP3.
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2018-19 | LAKE | 82 | 27 | 47.6 | 36.7 | 80.0 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 10.8 |
| 2019-20 | OKAY | 70 | 35 | 47.1 | 34.7 | 80.7 | 0.7 | 5.2 | 5.9 | 3.3 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 19.0 |
| 2020-21 | OKAY | 35 | 34 | 50.8 | 41.8 | 80.8 | 0.5 | 4.2 | 4.7 | 5.9 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 23.7 |
| 2021-22 | OKAY | 56 | 35 | 45.3 | 30.0 | 81.0 | 0.7 | 4.3 | 5.0 | 5.9 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 24.5 |
| 2022-23 | OKAY | 68 | 36 | 51.0 | 34.5 | 90.5 | 0.9 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 5.5 | 2.8 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 1.0 | 31.4 |
| Total | 311 | 33 | 48.4 | 34.7 | 84.5 | 0.7 | 3.9 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 21.1 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Shots made / Shots attempted; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def= defensive rebound; Tot = Total bounces; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost bullets; Ct: Counters; Points = Points.
