How An Underrated Canadian Became An NBA Superstar

sheay gilis Alexander is one of the most physically gifted point guards of all time standing at 6'6 with an enormous 7ft wingspan a killer first step and a silky jumper sgaa is virtually unguardable in the 2024 NBA season Shay joined Michael Jordan as the second player ever who averaged 30 points six assists and two steals while shooting better than 50% from the field but just like MJ Shay got cut from the varsity team in high school this is the story of SGA a forever underrated Canadian kid who transformed from a four-star recruit to one of the best players in the world Shante gilis Alexander was born in Toronto to von Alexander and Charmaine guilis a former Antigua and Barbuda track star who ran the 400 meters in the 1992 Olympics from his mom Shay inherited athleticism and from his dad the love of basketball Shay's dad was his first coach who taught him fundamentals and took him to Raptors games to watch Chris Bosch sheay felt deeply in love with the sport always practicing and putting up shots on a garage Dodge mounted Basket in the family driveway after his family moved to Hamilton Ontario when he was 10 Shay joined a local basketball program called you play Canada but it wasn't like he was ever a basketball Prodigy at the age of 14 gilgas Alexander didn't make his High School varsity team which drove him crazy and only made him work harder sgaa started practicing privately with Dwayne Washington the coach and founder of up playay Canada and it was Washington who started to carve Shay into the pick and roll Maestro we see today with Shay it was a more cerebral approach with many many hours of video and then practical onc Court breakdowns Washington said he had 27 different drills that specialized on the ball screen and running the pick and roll and most of it was about Pace in your brain you're counting to five before you get into the screen by the time you get to four you have to know what you're doing that's why a lot of guys in the NBA can't run the pick and roll and the guys that can those guys are the James hardens and Chris Paul's of the world Superstars and apart from Team practices and private workouts with Coach Washington Chay had another formidable opponent who always challenged him to play one-on-one it was his first cousin nikil Alexander Walker Who currently plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves nikelle was just two months younger than Shay so they always challenged each other on and off the court having a brother my age who was damn near just as good at basketball we used to go at it all the time we've almost fought before almost punched each other in the face but we know it's all love and that's why we're both at the stage we're at today for their senior year of high school both Shay and Nelle transferred to Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in Tennessee because they real ized they needed better competition to improve their basketball skills but if you had to pick a future NBA player out of the two most people probably would have picked n when he first got to Hamilton Heights Shay was a pass first point guard who didn't look for a shot mainly because his jumper was shaky however due to an insane work ethic constant shooting and the habit of watching film guilis Alexander averaged 18 points four rebounds and four assists per game which was enough to earn him a scholarship to the University of Kentucky and when he arrived in Lexington sheay was as underrated as ever a four-star recruit who was not considered a starting caliber point guard coach calip Perry compared Shay's jump shot to Charles Barkley's golf swing because they both came with a hitch but being underrated all his life sgaa was never discouraged and he kept working and waiting for his opportunity and after the first 15 games of the season during which he usually came off the bench Shay finally got a chance to start and when he did he never looked back by the middle of January Shay was a clear leader on the team and kept improving his numbers across the board however when he had great games his mother would call Coach Cal letting him know to stay hard on her son and to keep him grounded and it worked in the final game of the SEC tournament SGA had the best game of his college career scoring 29 Points on 10 for 16 shooting with seven rebounds three assists and two steals when the NCAA tournament started Shay was by far the best player against Davidson and buffalo leading the Wildcats to Victory with an average of 23 points and six assists but in the sweet 16 against Kansas State sgaa shot just two for 10 from the field and Kentucky lost they contained Shay guilis Alexander their help was good despite that Shay's Improvement throughout the season was immense and he finished the year averaging 14 points five assists and nearly two Steals on 48% shooting from the field and 40% from three thanks to his large frame explosive first step and strong defense SGA showed plenty of promise to become a very good NBA player um I want to let the world know that that I'll I'll be entering my name to that 2018 NBA draft and I'll be signed with an agent but nobody considered of a sure thing in a stacked 2018 NBA draft sheay was drafted 11th overall by the Hornets who immediately traded him to the clippers for Miles Bridges and two future second round picks and when his NBA Dram finally came true his career started the same way as it did in college on the bench but after just nine games Clippers coach Doc Rivers decided to put him into the starting lineup and once again sgaa never gave that spot back he was a stable contributor All Season averaging 11 points on 47% shooting with three assists one . 2 Steals and just 1. 7 turnovers even as a rookie guilis Alexander was among the League's Elite from the mid-range making 48% of his attempts then in the playoffs he improved his scoring and efficiency averaging 14 points per game shooting 50% from deep but the short-handed Clippers lost to the prime Warriors in six games and then after the season one man with a weird laugh changed the trajectory of sga's career kawh Leonard the finals MVP and arguably the best player in the world at the time wanted to come home to LA to sign with the Clippers and he wanted to team up with Paul George desperate to get kawhai the Clippers paid one of the biggest ransoms in NBA history to trade for PG-13 four first round picks four unprotected future first round picks a protected future first round pick two pick swaps and outstanding rookie point guard Shay gilis Alexander Danilo galinari for Paul George okay had plans to tank that season in order to capitalize on all those picks but under the tutelage of Chris Paul sgaa blossomed and suddenly the Thunder had arguably the best backourt in the NBA Shay averaged 19 points six rebounds and three assists per game but what was most impressive is how coldblooded he was in the clutch shooting 58% from the field and he led the entire NBA in clutch steals he was plus 106 in clutch minutes which was second in the entire NBA behind teammate Dennis schruder Shay's much debated jumper had improved so much that he averaged .

95 points in isolations and his ability to score one-on-one was impressive when the game was on the line his first step is unbelievable it's really hard for anybody to keep him in front of him and then he blows by you and then again he slows it all down to sidestep people or uses athleticism or make the right play at the end of it on January 13th 2020 gilgas Alexander recorded his first NBA triple double with 20 points 10 assists and a career-high 20 rebounds in a 117 104 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves becoming the second player after Russell Westbrook to record a 202010 stat line in the last 30 years and the youngest ever to do it and even though OKC lost their first round series to the rockets in seven games SGA didn't disappoint averaging 16 points five rebounds and four assists in the series but in the off season the Thunder realized that they needed to get younger and start to rebuild trading Chris Paul Danilo galinari and Dennis schruder to get high picks in the draft Shay wasn't happy about it but he went along with the plan of GM Sam prey believing in his vision in his third year Shay became a clear leader on a super young Thunder team averaging 23 points five boards and six assists per game shooting a phenomenal 51% from the field and 42% for three however after just 35 games he suffered a tear in his foot and was ruled out for the season this wasn't really a disaster though because OKC was tanking anyway and sgaa was actually making them win more games than they planned to and because they won more games they had to settle with only the sixth pick in the draft which they used on Josh giddy when the 20121 2022 season started sgaa recovered to start the year but he struggled with minor injuries All Season playing in 56 games and marginally improving his numbers to 24 points five rebounds and six assists per game but for the Thunder it worked out because they got the second pick in the draft the Oklahoma City Thunder select Chad hren from Gonzaga un and they also took Jaylen Williams with the 12th pick and even though hom GM got hurt before the season started and had to miss the whole year the improvement from SGA Giddy and L Dort and the Stellar two-way play of rookie jayen Williams showed that the Thunder was on the rise and that prey is one of the best general managers in the NBA while the Clippers were praised when making the deal for Prime Paul George nobody could predict that the player they gave up for him would have a better season than both George and kawh Leonard just three years after the trade but that's exactly what happened under coach Mike dagal the Thunder played completely position-less basketball with versatile lineups where everybody could play with the ball in their hands switch on defense and keep up a high pace and SGA is the main motor of the team that embodies all of their Concepts his long arms are a huge weapon on the defensive end where he's become more active than ever before which is especially impressive considering the amount of work he does offensively Shay is a killer in transition and equally dangerous in the half court using his comp handle to get rid of opponents and sga's dribbling skills are an underrated and under talked about piece of his game while Kyrie and Steph handle the ball like dancers and John Morant and dear and fox push the ball faster than anybody sheay handles the rock like a metronome precise smooth and always under control his incredible ball control especially while dribbling from behind is one of the main reasons why Shay only committed 2. 8 turnovers per game despite having the seventh highest usage rate in the entire league his handle allows him to be a brutally good scorer see most players Michael when they they come up on Murray they don't have that extra move and in the 2023 season Shay transformed into a player who can get buckets from anywhere inside the three-point line he puts tremendous pressure on defenses that often have to modify help assignments to cover his driving Lanes in Dublin which only made him grow as a playmaker while his assist numbers didn't increase from the previous season there was no doubt that he was playing smarter and putting his teammates in favorable positions SGA averaged 31. 4 points per game shooting 51% from the field and 90% from the free throw line for the first time in his career he was in the top 10 in the NBA in points in the paint averaging 15 per game ranking first among guards defenses were helpless trying to stop him from penetrating but where he made the most progress was knowing when to attack and when to use his deadly mid-range or Force fowls his bag of tricks contains many changes of Direction Euro steps and shot faints which has become his specialty his shot fake is so convincing because it's difficult to tell the difference between an authentic shot and its simulation in both cases sheay throws his head back and is in the same position as when he shoots and because he knows how to force contact SGA often forces fouls and gets to the free throw line where he led the NBA and made free throws and while most modern guards shoot plenty of Threes sgaa plays like a '90s guard taking only 3.

6 threes per game and dominating with dribble penetration transition points and halfcourt pick and roll something that he practiced with Dwayne Washington since he was 13 players that can raise the level of their game in this way are a rare breed the jump from 24. 5 to 31. 4 points without an increase in three-point volume is reserved for a golden group of individuals and he finished second in most improved player voting and when you add in his excellent defense 1.

7 Steals and a block per game on top of his Elite offense it's no wonder that he finally made the All-Star team First Team all NBA and finished fifth in the MVP voting however just like his mother always insisted Shay stayed humble and kept working improving even more in the 2024 season with the return of Chad holgren and further development from Jaylen Williams Giddy and other young OKC players the Thunder had finally arrived on the big scene they won 57 games their best result in 10 years and clinched the number one seed in the west they are the number one seed out of the Western Conference these dudes are something to behold and to be wrecked with what was most impressive for such a young team was their defensive versatility as they ranked first in the league in steals and blocks but even the most outstanding defensive teams can't win games on defense alone and you always need a player who can take the ball find the desired mismatch and score when no one else can buy a basket and Oklahoma has that in guilis Alexander sgaa scored 30 or more points in 51 games out of 75 he played in the 2024 season sgaa led the league in steals and free throws made and was top five in nearly all advanced metrics sheay finished third in clutch Player of the Year voting was seventh in the defensive player of the year was unanimous First Team all NBA and finished second in the MVP voting behind Nicola yic but most importantly the Thunder won their first playoff series since 2016 as sheay led OKC past the Pelicans in the first round and even though the Thunder lost to the Mavericks in the second round it wasn't because of SGA who was by far the best player in the series Shay averaged 32 8 and 7even with 1. 2 Steals and 2.