Shai Gilgeous-Alexander cares a lot about his appearance. Fashion is a clear passion. His post-game press conferences double as short videos for Harper’s Bazaar.

I’m impressed by a player who can wear something shimmery or wear fur up to his chin while wearing a rag and dark sunglasses. Far be it from me to pose as a fashion critic. This is not a judgment on whether he can do it, although I would say he definitely can. I dress like a dapper, deadline-oriented journalist, just with a nice pair of sneakers and something to cover up the coffee I’m sure I’ll spill on my hoodie. My fashion criticism is useless.

But the off-field SGA and his version in the Oklahoma City Thunder jersey make for a remarkable counterpart. The former really tries hard to be stunning. The latter makes it look so effortless.

Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t just an elite scorer; He’s so, so smooth with it. Watching him get buckets is almost therapeutic. Right before our eyes he has blossomed into a historic goal machine. Its touch is silkier than that of one of his half-buttoned shirts. He doesn’t impress with his dribbling moves, but he’s so fluid with the ball. His movements and counterattacks. The improvisational way he manipulates leverage and moves into spaces. And the whole thing is punctuated by a midrange jump that old heads would call “butter.”

SGA is one to keep an eye on as the NBA Cup enters the quarterfinals. One of the benefits of this seasonal tournament – and the hype surrounding it – is that gems like Gilgeous-Alexander can shine. In a league that loves to showcase its prolific offensive players, he is unique among the game’s best.

A big Giannis Antetokounmpo game is like a muscle car with Flowmasters racing through a school campus. Nothing about Jayson Tatum’s scoring looks easy.

Have you ever seen Luka Dončić get eliminated? It’s spectacular. But he makes it look so difficult. You need a cigarette and a cold afterwards just from watching.

Anthony Edwards is simply exciting. He’s all Flair. Just like Nikola Jokić. While “Joker” is inherently slick, it has the subtlety of an elephant running to “Not Like Us.” His version of smoothness is poignant.

SGA sneaks up on you. He just goes to work, and when you look up, he’s back to 30. Like he rolls out of bed and gets 20 points.

In that sense, he is the new Kevin Durant. You know how KD makes putting the ball in the basket feel like breathing? How does it feel so automatic that it’s inevitable? SGA is of this variety. Simply for no reason. He scores like cats run. Dancing like Les Twins. As Penelope Cruz says “Nespresso.”

Gilgeous-Alexander is already on track for a third season averaging 30 or more points per game. If he accomplishes that, he would be one of 16 players in NBA history to average 30 or more three-game appearances. (Giannis is also on track in his third such season.) Only 23 players have multiple seasons with an average above 30.

Even the SGA’s free throw technique is clever. He is fourth in attempts this season, behind Giannis, Anthony Davis and James Harden.

SGA often seems unstoppable. However, his career high is just 45. This is his seventh season and he has only scored 40 or more goals 14 times.

His approach is not particularly explosive. It’s not often that he gets hot and wild. He is not a fan of magnificent peaks and periodic valleys.

Gilgeous-Alexander is at exactly the same level. Constant. Even modest. Cook the defense like it’s a 9-to-5. In the last two-plus seasons, in which he played a total of 164 games, he has failed to score 20 goals in just 10 games.

Not too high. Not too low. Exactly in the same groove. Unhindered by smaller or larger, faster or stronger defenders. At 6-foot-3, he has just enough athleticism, strength and jumping ability to counter almost any defense.

If SGA continues at this pace, he will become the 10th player to average 30 in three consecutive seasons. The other nine: Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor, Adrian Dantley, Bob McAdoo, James Harden and Joel Embiid. Yes, Gilgeous-Alexander is already among the top tier of winners.

Durant only averaged 30 twice. The same goes for Stephen Curry, Rick Barry and George Gervin, among others.

What’s even rarer about SGA is its path to success. He has developed into an unstoppable scorer despite not breaking into the NBA as such. He averaged 14.4 points during his season at Kentucky and was drafted two picks after his college teammate Kevin Knox.

Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 10.8 points as a rookie despite making 73 starts. This puts him in another rare group alongside Giannis, Kobe Bryant and Harden. They are the four players in NBA history to average 30 points in a season after averaging fewer than 11 points as a rookie.

Most of the NBA’s great single-season scorers came into the league with goals. Of the 37 players all-time to average 30 points in a season, 16 averaged at least 20 points as rookies. Another nine averaged at least 15.

Most of them were goal scorers from the start of their careers, more than two thirds. They announced themselves early. They knew what they had to do in the league.

SGA somehow sneaked up on us. Slipped into the rarefied air. Most had never heard of him until he was the key figure in a huge deal for Paul George. Now, at 26 years old, he is already a better offensive weapon than PG.

And SGA’s 3-ball is not yet fully developed. In college he had a 40.4 percent shooting percentage, but in his professional career he only hit 34.8 percent. He has the shape and the touch. It’s about getting to where he’s knocking down the 3 at a higher clip.

Could he be the next 30,000 point scorer? He will pass the 10,000 mark this season. By year 12 it could be 20,000. The pace is right.

Sure, Gilgeous-Alexander defends and passes, and he’s developing into a leader. But man, just watch how he works on offense. With the ball in his hands, somewhere near the free throw line and the defender at his mercy, watch the rhythm of his flow. The simplicity of his sweater. The reliability of its conversion. The objectivity in his appearance. The fashion in which he dominates.

The fur coat and rag are just accessories.

(Top photo: Joshua Gateley / Getty Images)