SAN FRANCISCO — As the tight-knit Oklahoma City Thunder team enjoyed some brotherly banter after another victory, their superstar guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander momentarily refocused on basketball and warned a young teammate.

“Hey man, you need to start tucking your jersey in during games. If you don’t make it, we’ll have a technical error and that will cost us a game,” Gilgeous-Alexander said matter-of-factly after a 105-101 road win over the Golden State Warriors on Nov. 27. Nearby, Thunder forward Jalen Williams nodded approvingly.

With most of the team’s players under 30 and center Chet Holmgren out due to injury, Gilgeous-Alexander is undoubtedly the team’s star and is needed as a leader. At 26 years old and with title ambitions, the two-time NBA All-Star takes the challenging role seriously
on the current No. 1 team in the Western Conference while also playing at the level of an MVP candidate.

“I definitely accept it. It brings a burden,” Gilgeous-Alexander told Andscape. “It comes with the crown. It contains all the things you dream about as a kid, being a superstar in the NBA. I definitely dreamed of being like that as a player and these things are part of it. And I knew that. So I definitely accept it.”

Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder are just one win away from advancing to the NBA Cup semifinals on Saturday in Las Vegas. To get there, the Thunder need to win for the eighth time in nine games
Play Tuesday night against the Dallas Mavericks. There is an additional motivation for all players on the winning team: each will receive $500,000 if the team wins the NBA Cup.

Gilgeous-Alexander said of what he would do with the winnings: “I would give it away somehow. I don’t know how.”

The beginnings of Gilgeous-Alexander becoming a leader began during his only season with the LA Clippers as a rookie in the 2018-19 season. Gilgeous-Alexander said former Clippers teammates Tobias Harris, Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, Marcin Gortat and Danilo
Gallinari and Avery Bradley helped him “in the cerebral part of the NBA.”

In his second NBA season, Gilgeous-Alexander played in Oklahoma City with Chris Paul, a 12-time NBA All-Star known for having one of the best basketball IQs the game has ever seen. In his third season, with Paul gone, Gilgeous-Alexander was undoubtedly the face of the franchise and one of the NBA’s young rising stars, averaging 23.7 points.

With a laid-back personality and love of playing, Gilgeous-Alexander leads by example and takes a calm and direct approach.

“At the end of the day, I try to do it my way. “I’m trying to go my own way,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “There are a lot of good people in our locker room. It makes it easy to be yourself. If you have men’s back, once they feel like you really care about them, they will go to war for you and vice versa. That’s what we all want, especially from a leader.”

Gilgeous-Alexander is considered an elite star in the NBA and was a first-team All-NBA selection last season. But while stars like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo have title rings, Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t have one, even though he’s toying with success in the NBA and internationally.

The Thunder were the top seed in the Western Conference last season with 57 wins, and in their first postseason appearance since 2020, the Thunder defeated the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs. However, the Mavericks defeated the Thunder in the second round in six games.

Looking back, Gilgeous-Alexander blamed himself for the Thunder’s disappointing finish.

“Of course you can’t talk about the experience or teach it,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “You just have to go through it. You mentally make sure you are in the right places. A lot of it is in-game repetition that you go through throughout the season. It’s the little things that you don’t necessarily think about that add up and are really needed in the playoffs.

“I could have done better last season by helping them with the little things during the season. Whether that means turning down a shot for me to get a shot for (himself). The
The defense lets me take my shot, but I need them to take a shot in Game 7 when the defense says, “You’re not scoring tonight.”

The 2024 Paris Games provided more growing pains for Gilgeous-Alexander.

While the United States was the favorite in men’s basketball, the Canadians were expected to compete for a medal with a talented roster that included NBA stars like Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray and RJ Barrett. The Canadians won all three group games, but their dream of a medal ended with defeat by hosts France in the quarterfinals.

“It sucked. It’s difficult because it happens every four years,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It’s not like an NBA season. You don’t get a shot every year. This group does not exist every eight years. We were with them. There were guys who were (in their 30s), but in four years they won’t make the team. It’s really a unique experience with the relationships. It sucks.
Luckily I’ll crack it again.”

Gilgeous-Alexander is fourth in the NBA in scoring with an average of 29.8 points. Complicating matters for the Thunder is the loss of Holmgren, who averaged 16.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.6 blocks about a month ago, to a fractured right hip. Gilgeous-Alexandar and Williams, who is averaging 22 points, are the only two healthy members of the Thunder averaging more than 12 points.

For all the guidance Gilgeous-Alexander gives his teammates, there has to be someone he turns to for advice and guidance. He cited his wife, Hailey Summers, a fellow Canadian who had helped her high school win city championships in basketball and football, as his go-to person.

“She’s brutally honest,” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “She played basketball. She sees things. If my way of thinking is wrong, she makes sure I know it. These are the things I can control. And she can
See if I wear it on my sleeve. She can tell if I’m not aggressive and says, “What’s the point of being out there if you’re not aggressive?” It’s a little difficult, but I say, “(expletive) You’re right.”

“I often get information from her because she has no motive or reason to upset me. She knows me better than anyone.”

In his first season with the Thunder, center Isaiah Hartenstein is still learning about Gilgeous-Alexander but is impressed with his play.

“I didn’t know before that he could create something for others…” said Hartenstein. “Make it easy to eliminate the traps rather than forcing it. But then also be able to attack the traps and get to his spots.
Off the field he is a great teammate. He is very, very dedicated to his craft. Very professional. We’re the same age, but especially at his age, it was pretty impressive how professional he is, how seriously he takes things.”

Gilgeous-Alexander knows he needs his teammates to win now and, more importantly, in the postseason as defenses are prepared to stop him. He also said that he
doesn’t let his leadership stop him from doing what he needs to do every night to be ready.

So far so good, as the Thunder have the best record in the West at 18-5.

“It’s become second nature to me being the leader for so many years,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “But I myself have the same routine every match day, so I’m taken care of. The boys will go through ups and downs throughout the season. I will do that too. It’s all about confidence. If I see that a man needs it, I give it to him regularly. It’s not overwhelming.

“It’s all about making sure my teammates have confidence and I feel confident. That’s why I focus on preparing them. And they are good basketball players. You make crucial decisions. The right decisions. And hopefully they will win.”