Several media narratives have compared Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to Michael Jordan, from personal achievements to influence on the sport. But following his 40-point outburst in Game 5, Jalen Williams has suddenly earned recognition and comparisons to being the Scottie Pippen to SGA's Jordan. This was brought to the attention of the six-time NBA champion, who spoke to ESPN about it.
"He is pretty special," Pippen told ESPN. "I'm enjoying watching him. I see a lot of me in him for sure. I see a guy rising to be one of the top players in this league. He's definitely a player that is capable of being able to lead that franchise to multiple championships -- him and Shai, of course."
"I don't even want to put a cap on him to say that he's going to be me," Pippen said. "I see him being greater, if I can say that. Just because of where the game is today. They have offensive freedom. We didn't have that. We mostly ran out of a system. These guys have the freedom to shoot 3-balls and things of that nature. Players that are playing in today's game have a chance to be better than players in the past because of the ability to shoot the ball."
"If this kid continues to shoot the 3-ball the way that he shoots it, I'm not going to sit here and argue with nobody and say that you can compare us. Because you can't. He wins."
Scottie Pippen averaged 19.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game in all his NBA Finals appearances (35 games). So far in his career, Williams has averaged 25.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.2 assists in 5 games played so far in the NBA Finals. A fairer comparison would be Pippen's first NBA Finals experience. Scottie Pippen averaged 20.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 6.6 assists in 5 games in the 1991 NBA Finals.
What Jalen Williams Thinks About The Scottie Pippen Comparisons
ESPN also spoke to Jalen Williams about these comparisons. He humbly responded, crediting Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for playing like Michael Jordan as the source of these comparisons, more than his own talent.
"I feel like a new-age Scottie, maybe, I'm not mad at that one at all. I like that. And then obviously Shai gets a little Jordan comparison, so that's cool. It's very cool. Any time you're compared to somebody like that, you're doing something right."
Jalen Williams is going into Game 6 of the NBA Finals as the second favorite to win the Finals MVP Award if the Thunder win this series. The 24-year-old earned his first All-Star appearance this season. Do you think he repeats the Game 5 performance or at least uses the momentum to propel the Thunder to their first championship in NBA history? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
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