Get to know Canadian hoops star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ahead of NBA MVP announcement
With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the betting favourite to be named NBA most valuable player on Wednesday evening, here's an explainer for the uninitiated of who he is, where he came from and the historic nature of his accomplishments.
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BIOGRAPHY
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Born July 12, 1998, in Toronto, Gilgeous-Alexander is the son of Charmaine Gilgeous, who competed for Antigua and Barbuda in the women's 400 metres at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, and Vaughn Alexander, a high school basketball star in Toronto who won a city championship for Georges Vanier Secondary and would go on to coach his son.
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CAREER TRAJECTORY
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A classic late bloomer who consistently exceeded expectations along the way, Gilgeous-Alexander's basketball path was far from linear.
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He was cut from his Grade 9 junior team at Hamilton's St. Thomas More, but dominated at the midget level, winning MVP and a championship. He also attended Sir Allan MacNab Secondary in Hamilton before leaving for a school in Tennessee in search of bigger competitive challenges.
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He impressed enough to earn a scholarship to Florida as a four-star recruit and was ranked 35th by ESPN in his high school class (cousin Nickeil Alexander-Walker, his opponent in the Western Conference final this year was ranked 21st), but kept generating buzz after attending a Basketball Without Borders camp and was one of the youngest players to ever make Canada's senior men's national team in 2016.
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That led to a new recruiting war that Kentucky eventually won. Even so, Gilgeous-Alexander initially was considered one of the lesser prospects of the seven Kentucky commits that year (all but two would make the NBA, but Gilgeous-Alexander has clearly become several levels above even the second-best recruit, Dallas big man P.J. Washington).
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Several teams became enamoured by him as he turned heads during the pre-draft process, including the Toronto Raptors, who tried to trade for a late lottery pick to nab him. Ultimately, Gilgeous-Alexander went to the Los Angeles Clippers 11th overall via a trade with Charlotte.
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'I never really doubted this moment. My whole life I always believed in myself and my abilities, in how hard I worked.
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'(I) got a lot better and then went to Kentucky for college and just always worked throughout my career and that's why I'm here today.'
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