Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Childhood and Family

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the oldest of two children of Charmaine Gilgeous and Vaughn Alexander. Charmaine was a track athlete who represented Antigua and Barbuda at the 1992 Olympic Summer Games in Barcelona. She later worked in banking. Vaughn is credited with being one of Shai’s first basketball coaches and contributing to his son’s passion for the sport. Vaughn played basketball and won a Toronto City High School Championship with Georges Vanier Secondary School in the early 1990s. He later became a contractor.

Shai’s younger brother, Thomasi, also has a basketball background. He played for the University of Evansville and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. Shai’s cousin Nickeil Alexander-Walker is a shooting guard for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

High School Basketball

Originally from Toronto, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander moved to Hamilton, Ontario, at the age of 10 with his mother after his parents separated. He attended St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School, but he was cut from the school’s basketball team in Grade 9. At the time, Gilgeous-Alexander wanted to leave Hamilton and move back to Toronto with his father. However, Shai’s mother encouraged him to stay in Hamilton and play on a lower-level midget squad at Sir Allan MacNab Secondary School. Shai guided his team to a city championship and was named the most valuable player.

Gilgeous-Alexander then transferred to Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for his junior and senior years. He graduated in 2017.

University of Kentucky

After graduating from high school, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander attended the University of Kentucky. He was initially ranked seventh among seven players signed by Wildcats head coach John Calipari. Over time, Calipari appreciated Gilgeous-Alexander’s work ethic and team-focused mentality. On 30 January 2018, Gilgeous-Alexander had a season-high 30 points in an 83–81 overtime win against Vanderbilt. In 37 games at the NCAA level, he averaged 14.4 points per game.

First Round Draft Pick

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was selected in the first round, 11th overall, by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2018 NBA Draft. He never played for the Hornets, however. He was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers on draft night.

Season with the Los Angeles Clippers

Gilgeous-Alexander spent only one season with the Clippers, 2018–19. He averaged 10.8 points per game, earned All-Rookie Second Team honours and was sixth in NBA Rookie of the Year voting. But his time in Los Angeles was short-lived. On 10 July 2019, he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder with Danilo Gallinari and seven draft picks for all-star Paul George. The trade happened one day after the Clippers signed former Toronto Raptors superstar Kawhi Leonard.

Oklahoma City Thunder (2019–24)

In his first season with the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 19 points per game. In 2019–20, he was in the conversation for the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award. In 2020–21, he averaged 23.7 points per game. He was even better in 2021–22 with 24.5 points per game.

However, in 2022–23 and 2023–24, Gilgeous-Alexander elevated his game to a whole new level. In both seasons, he was selected to the All-NBA First Team and averaged a total of 30.7 points per game in 143 regular season games.

In 2022–23, Gilgeous-Alexander led the NBA with 669 free throws made for a free throw percentage of.905. He was also the runner-up to Lauri Markkanen of the Utah Jazz for the Most Improved Player Award.

In 2023–24, Gilgeous-Alexander had career highs in field goal percentage (.535), assists per game (6.2) and steals per game (two). He was the runner-up to Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award. He also led Oklahoma City to the best regular season record (57–25) in the Western Conference.

MVP Season (2024–25)

In 2024–25, Gilgeous-Alexander picked up right where he left off and delivered a truly dominant season. Rylan Stiles of Sports Illustrated wrote that Gilgeous-Alexander “put together a season that can only be compared to Michael Jordan when you examine his points, assists and efficiency. The Thunder superstar posted 32.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting nearly 52 per cent from the floor, 37 per cent from beyond the arc and 89 per cent at the free throw line.” Gilgeous-Alexander led the league in points (2,484), field goals (860) and free throws (601). He guided the Thunder to the best regular season record (68–14) as well as an NBA record for margin of victory (12.9 points), breaking the previous record set by the 1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers. Gilgeous-Alexander was seen as a heavy favourite to win the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award and did so in a landslide, with 71 first-place votes compared to 29 for Nikola Jokic.

Reflecting on Gilgeous-Alexander’s season, the Toronto Star’s Doug Smith wrote, “The 26-year-old… has grown into one of the era’s best players through a meticulous work ethic, daily dedication to honing his skills and a personality that won’t allow him to put himself before his team. He is confident, of course, but never seeks the spotlight that shines so brightly on him.” Smith also noted that Gilgeous-Alexander “is now eligible for ‘super max’ contract extensions that will put him in the salary stratosphere. He could sign a four-year extension worth $293 million (US) this summer or wait to be eligible for a five-year, $380-million deal after the 2025–26 season.”

The Thunder’s string of dominance continued into the playoffs, as they swept the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round. They needed seven games to get past an ailing Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets before handily defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games. The tenacious Indiana Pacers proved a stiffer challenge. They led the NBA Finals 2–1 after three games and began the fourth quarter of game 4 with a 7-point lead. But SGA scored 15 points in the fourth quarter as the Thunder outscored Indiana 31–17 to win the game 111–104 and tie the series. Doug Smith wrote in the Toronto Star that Gilgeous-Alexander “played with his usual composed, lethal efficiency in the biggest game of his career.” SGA scored at least 30 points in four of the seven games of the Finals and 29 points in game 7 to lead the Thunder to their first NBA Championship in Oklahoma City.

Gilgeous-Alexander was the unanimous winner of the Bill Russell Trophy as MVP of the NBA Finals. He became only the fourth player in NBA history (after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’Neal) to win the scoring title, regular season MVP, Finals MVP and a championship in the same season.

Team Canada

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won a silver medal for Canada at the 2016 FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Chile. When he helped Canada win the bronze medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup — its first ever medal at a World Cup tournament — Gilgeous-Alexander was named to the World Cup All-Star Five. His 196 points were the second-most in the tournament.

Canada qualified for the men’s basketball tournament at the 2024 Olympic Summer Games in Paris. It was the first time Canada had qualified for the Olympic Games in men’s basketball since the 2000 Olympic Summer Games in Sydney. In Paris, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 21 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4 assists per game and was named to the tournament’s All-Second Team. Team Canada had a perfect 3–0 record through the group stage but lost to France 82–73 in the quarter-finals.