How Shai Plays the Game Within the Game
He believes the mental part of the game is what sets players apart.
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was on fire.
In Game 5 of the 2025 Western Conference Semifinals, he scored 31 points.
This was the start of a second hot streak this playoffs (he went on a 30-point-plus run for four games at the end of the first and start of the second rounds).
For the next four games, he scored a minimum of 30 points each game. He was playing exceptionally well and his team was winning, too. They advanced to the Western Conference Finals and won the first two games of that series.
But disaster struck in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals.
The Thunder headed over to Minnesota to play the Timberwolves and their opponent’s howl must’ve stunned them because they got blown out.
Oklahoma was only able to score a measly 101 points while Minnesota scored 143.
And what’s worse is that Gilgeous-Alexander only scored 14 points on 30.8 percent shooting, cooling his hot hand.
Now, he had a decision to make.
Was he going to get bummed out and let that discouragement affect how he played or was he going to suck it up and continue moving forward?
Much like what Monta Ellis would do, he chose the latter.
In Game 4, SGA got his hot hand back and dropped 40 points in a close win (128-126).
He stayed mentally strong and didn’t let a bad performance get the best of him. This, to Gilgeous-Alexander, is his best trait.
During a post-game press conference, he said that though his basketball skills have been refined since he was a rookie, the most important thing he developed was the mental part of the game.
“My skill overall, just through hard work, has gotten better,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “And then I think, in the recent years, I’ve understood the game inside the game. And I’ve understood the mental aspect of the game and how to approach every day.”
He also added that many players are just after the skills aspect of basketball because it’s sexy.
But he believes the mental part is the most important because it’s the thing that helped him make the jump to the next level.
“The skill is what everyone is after -it’s fun and it’s pretty, in the summertime, you work on new things and try to put it in the game,” he said. “But the mental part, I found, is what really sets you apart and helps you take leaps.”
Gilgeous-Alexander was named the 2024-25 MVP prior to Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals. He became the third OKC Thunder to win the title and the second Canadian.
He led the NBA in points with 32.7 points per game. The Thunder also led the league with 68 wins.
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