Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, meets the biggest scene in the NBA.
The largest stage of the NBA, meet Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
It will be the first time that you have gathered both, but it will certainly not be the last.
The NBA final will kick Thunder Oklahoma City Thunda Pacers on Thursday evening when Oklahoma City Thunda. The match combines a pair of teams of small markets with big dreams, and each side has the power of the stars in Gilgeous-Alexander of The Thunder and Tyrese Haliburton of the Pacers.
Both sides also have a lot of depth. It would not be surprising that someone else from one or the other team will appear to be the top scorer of a given night.
But the best player on the ground will be Gilgeous-Alexander.
The 26 -year -old could be one of the less announced superstars in the League. This could change if he brings Oklahoma City to his first NBA championship.
Think about it this way: yes, you know SGA. All your friends who love basketball know everything about SGA. But if you ask someone who is not that a big fan of sport, could he tell you what SGA represents? Could they tell you for which team he plays? Could they tell you where he went to university?
The NBA finals could make Gilgeous-Alexander a familiar name everywhere.
This season, he won his first NBA MVP prize while making an average of 32.7 points, five rebounds and 6.4 assists. He pulled 51.9% of the field and also had an average of 1.7 interceptions and 1.0 blocks per game.
In a league filled with incredible players, he obtained 71 of the 100 votes in first place for MVP. Nikola Jokic received the other 29, while Giannis Antetokounmpo finished third in the vote.
Thanks to its leadership, the Thunder won 68 games – the best brand of any team during the regular season.
Now comes the big scene.
Gilgeous-Alexander has a very real chance to capture the MVP of the regular season and the MVP prize of the NBA final the same year. No one has done this for more than a decade, and that would launch it on another level of stars power.
The last player to withdraw the feat was Lebron James, who won the regular season and MVP honors in the final during consecutive seasons in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013.
Only 10 players won the two awards in the same season. Consult the names:
Willis Reed (1969-1970)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1970–71)
Moses Malone (1982–83)
Larry Bird (1983–84, 1985–86)
Magic Johnson (1986–87)
Michael Jordan (1990–91, 1991–92, 1995–96, 1997–98)
Hakeem Olajuwon (1993–94)
Shaquille O’Neal (1999-00)
TIM DUNCAN (2002-2003)
LeBron James (2011–12, 2012-13)
Talk about household names.
Simply say “LeBron”, and anyone in your classroom, office or neighborhood block will know who you are talking about. The same goes for “Shaq”, “Hakeem”, “MJ”, “Magic” or “Bird” – the continuous list.
Maybe in 10 or 20 years, the same thing will be true when someone says “SGA”.
Gilgeous-Alexander has a lot of work against him with regard to the mega-intrigue.
On the one hand, he does not play on a coast for an emblematic franchise such as Lakers, Knicks or Celtics. Let’s face it-these are the types of teams that take a disproportionate quantity of national titles, and we would have a very different conversation on Gilgeous-Alexander if he played near Hollywood, South Beach or Times Square.
Personality also plays a factor. Gilgeous-Alexander could give you a great in-depth answer on reading a defense, but it is not flashy. He has interests outside basketball, but he is not going to do after-match interviews on himself or his brand.
He is therefore a relatively calm player in a relatively calm market.
He is also incredibly gifted.
And he only made four victories of his first championships (multiple?).
He has only four victories far from almost everyone knowing his name.