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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Says He Is the Best Player in the NBA
ReShai Gilgeous-Alexander Says He Is the Best Player in the NBA
Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a two-time NBA MVP, tells TIME he believes he is the best player in the league while addressing flopping criticism and the Thunder's playoff loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Oklahoma City Thunder superstar who has won the NBA MVP award two years in a row, says he believes he is the best player in the league. In an interview with TIME, the 28-year-old guard did not hesitate when asked about his place in the game. «I think I'm the best player in the NBA,» he said. «I think the production that I have night in and night out is best-player-in-the-NBA production. I think the efficiency that I do it at is best-player-in-the-NBA efficiency.»
Gilgeous-Alexander's case is supported by a resume that few players in league history can match. He has been selected to the All-Star team and the All-NBA First Team four times each. In the same year, he swept the regular-season MVP, the scoring title, and the Finals MVP, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, and Shaquille O'Neal as the only players to accomplish that feat. He was also named the 2026 Clutch Player of the Year. In March, he broke Wilt Chamberlain's record for the most consecutive games scoring at least 20 points, a streak that reached 126 games.
Despite his achievements, Gilgeous-Alexander has faced criticism from fellow players, pundits, and fans who accuse him of flopping, or exaggerating contact to draw fouls and get to the free-throw line. The backlash intensified in December when San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama said he was glad to play for a team that practiced «pure and ethical basketball,» a remark widely interpreted as a jab at the Thunder. The criticism grew louder when the Spurs eliminated Oklahoma City in a contentious seven-game Western Conference Finals series.
Gilgeous-Alexander remains unapologetic about his style of play. He led the NBA in free throws made per game for a third straight season and has shot 88% from the line over the past three regular seasons and playoffs combined. «Playing this game has done amazing things for me and my family's life,» he said. «And if a narrative on social media is the worst that comes from this game for me, well, I'd take that a million times out of a million times.»
The playoff loss to the Spurs still stings. Oklahoma City was the reigning NBA champion after winning the title in 2025 and had again finished with the league's best record before falling short of a return to the Finals. «Awful feeling, sick to your stomach,» Gilgeous-Alexander recalled. «I tried to let it go for a little bit. Don't obsess over it. Not yet.»
The Thunder enter the new season as co-favorites with the Spurs to win the 2027 championship, but other teams are drawing more attention. The New York Knicks are enjoying the spotlight after ending a 53-year title drought and could become the first franchise in nearly a decade to repeat. The Philadelphia 76ers have assembled what looks like a superteam, with LeBron James and Jaylen Brown joining 2023 league MVP Joel Embiid, two-time All-Star Tyrese Maxey, and VJ Edgecombe, who finished third in 2026 Rookie of the Year voting.
Gilgeous-Alexander is accustomed to being overlooked. He entered the league as an underhyped draft pick and was seen as a consolation prize in a blockbuster trade before developing into one of the game's dominant players. Thunder coach Mark Daigneault, who was an assistant when Gilgeous-Alexander joined the team in 2019, said the guard's rise was self-made. «One person saw this happening,» Daigneault said. «And it was him. That's it. If anybody else says, 'This is what I saw,' then it's revisionist history.»
Gilgeous-Alexander credits his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, which he calls «an underdog city,» for his work ethic. The son of Vaughn Alexander, who won a high school city championship in Toronto, and Charmaine Gilgeous, who represented Antigua and Barbuda in the 400 meters at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, he tried many sports as a child, including hockey, though never on ice. «I wanted to, but I just couldn't afford it,» he said. By high school, basketball was his focus, and being cut from the junior varsity team in ninth grade served as a wake-up call. «I thought I was this player,» he said. «I learned quickly that I wasn't.»
That early setback helped shape the relentless consistency that now defines his career. With a $285 million contract extension signed in July 2025 and a championship already secured, Gilgeous-Alexander is focused on winning more. The Thunder open the season against the Spurs on Oct. 20, a matchup that will immediately test whether Oklahoma City can reclaim the title and whether its star can silence the criticism that followed him through last season's playoff exit.
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