Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has already had an incredible season, and he is close to capping it off with an NBA Championship. The Oklahoma City Thunder took down the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals, and they are now four wins away from winning it all. SGA has already won MVP, WCF MVP, and he is a heavy favorite to win Finals MVP as OKC is a big favorite in the series against the Indiana Pacers.
There is a chance that SGA's trophy case is full to the brim in a couple of weeks as some more awards might be on the way. He is putting up a season that doesn't come around often, and Paul Pierce has been incredibly impressed.
“A championship for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will not only make him the greatest Thunder, it ensures his statue at the tender age of 26,” Paul Pierce said. “If you were to leave Oklahoma City after this year, best believe they don't put a statue of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for giving OKC their first NBA championship in franchise history, which I believe will happen. He's been unstoppable in these playoffs, he's had an unbelievable run.”
SGA was the best player in basketball during the regular season, but the NBA Playoffs are a different beast. The intensity is different, the defense is different, everything. It's a lot harder to come out and dominate, and he has still been able to do that. We are seeing a historic season from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
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“He's been unstoppable in these playoffs,” Pierce continued. “He's had an unbelievable run. I looked up the last time that somebody not only won the scoring title, MVP and the title, so he's on an incredible run, and he'll also be the first player to — and I know the award just came out, the Eastern Conference MVP, Western Conference MVP, he's gonna sweep all the things. He's gonna wake up after the championship and look at his trophy case and have this, this, this, this. All in one year.”
SGA has done big things for the Thunder this season, but the NBA championship still needs to be secured. The ultimate prize is still on the table, and he has to be able to maintain his focus for one more series if the team wants to ascend to the top of the NBA world for the first time in franchise history.
Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Pacers and Thunder will go down on Thursday night at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. The game will get underway at 7:30 CT, and it will be airing on ABC. SGA and the Thunder are currently favored by 9.5 points.