Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the reigning regular-season and Finals MVP for good reason. He has earned his reputation for being one of the NBA’s best players through his overall play. However, his best trait will always be his reliable scoring.
SGA is quite efficient in all areas of the floor. However, he also specializes in initiating contact and drawing fouls to shoot free throws. Almost every generational superstar does well in this area, but Gilgeous-Alexander tends to get singled out when it comes to generating free-throw shots.
Kerr lauds Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for his ability to draw fouls
Since he was a young player, Gilgeous-Alexander has had a natural ability to get to the rim. With his long strides and natural control over his pace, he tends to get past his defenders and bamboozle them. He then can bump his opponents to make them foul him, which works most of the time.
That is a skill that has been present amongst mega stars’ skill sets throughout the years. Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and even Dwyane Wade had that kind of trait that made them great. SGA is doing it in the modern game, and he is succeeding with it.
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As a student of the game, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr knows and appreciates SGA’s game. It goes a long way that he is not complaining at all about Gilgeous-Alexander’s free throws because her knows it’s effective.
Some people might be hesitant to give him praise, but Kerr is unafraid of giving the reigning MVP his well-deserved props.
“He’s incredibly clever. He knows exactly how to draw contact. It’s all within the rules. I don’t have a problem with Shai. I have a problem with the rules. More power to the individual players,” Kerr said about Gilgeous-Alexander’s natural ability to draw fouls.
It is up to the defenders to be smarter with how they approach matching up against SGA. This is tough to do, but Kerr and other coaches know it, so they must do their best to prepare their players against the MVP.
