Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's powerful message to hometown after NBA Finals win
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander understood the impact he made after leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to the 2025 NBA title. As a result, he got to represent his hometown in championship glory.
Gilgeous-Alexander returned to his home country Canada, going to the city Hamilton. Thanks to the historic success he achieved with the Thunder, the city wanted to honor him for his incredible efforts.
He received the key to the city of Hamilton from Mayor Andrea Horwath at a public rally Thursday at Hamilton Stadium. Horwath also revealed they will name a street to honor him.
Gilgeous-Alexander reflected on the moment, being proud to represent his hometown.
'Growing up as I traveled across the world, to countless states, cities and countries people always asked where I was from,' Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'I took pride in letting everyone know I was from Hamilton.
'Hamilton is different from every other city in Ontario. Hamiltonians carry a different sense of grit, determination, pride and energy than the rest of the province and honestly, I couldn't shy away from that. I carry that with me every day and everywhere I go so you guys can only imagine how (much) overwhelming joy there was when I found out I was getting a key to the city I love and a street named after me.'
What's next for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will have a legacy in Hamilton, Canada. As one of the best players in the NBA, he made a statement that will ring forever in NBA history.
Gilgeous-Alexander had an incredible MVP campaign throughout the 2024-25 season. He averaged 32.7 points, 6.4 assists, five rebounds, 1.7 steals, and a block per game after 76 appearances. He shot 51.9% from the field, including 37.5% from beyond the arc, and 89.8% from the free-throw line.
The Thunder star continued his momentum in the playoffs. He produced 29.9 points, 6.5 assists, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per contest. He shot 46.2% overall, including 28.3% from downtown, and 87.6% from the charity stripe.
His efforts helped the Thunder claim their first championship in Oklahoma City. All that's next for him is to defend their throne in the 2025-26 campaign.
Related: Former Thunder Serge Ibaka sounds off on OKC's dynasty potential
Related: Kevin Durant's wildest Nike KD 6 colorways are coming back
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NBA's 80th season tips off with Rockets at Thunder on October 21
Reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City will play host to the Houston Rockets on October 21 to tip off the league's 80th season, NBA officials announced on Tuesday. The Thunder will raise their championship banner before reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his teammates face the Kevin Durant-led Rockets. The game will be the first of two on opening night for the 2025-26 season with the later start featuring the Golden State Warriors at the Los Angeles Lakers, as Golden State star guard Stephen Curry and Lakers' playmaker LeBron James -- both four-time NBA champions -- meet for the 57th time in their iconic careers. James, a 40-year-old forward, will become the first player in NBA history to compete in a 23rd NBA campaign while teammate Luka Doncic plays in his first season opener as a Laker. Durant, a two-time NBA champion and 2014 NBA MVP, was traded from Phoenix to Houston last month as part of an NBA record seven-team deal. The league also confirmed some other contest dates, including its Christmas schedule, ahead of Thursday's release of the full NBA schedule for the 2025-26 campaign. The December 25 lineup includes five NBA games, starting with Cleveland at New York, the Knicks having made a record 57 Christmas appearances. San Antonio will visit Oklahoma City in the Thunder's first game on December 25 since 2018 followed by Dallas at Golden State with ex-Warrior Klay Thompson returning to San Francisco with the Mavericks, then Houston at the Lakers and Minnesota at Denver. On the second night of the season on October 22, the Cleveland Cavaliers will visit New York while the San Antonio Spurs open their season at Dallas in the NBA debuts for top NBA Draft pick Cooper Flagg of Dallas and second choice Dylan Harper of the Spurs, who also welcome back French star Victor Wembanyama after he missed the end of last season with deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder. The following night sees Oklahoma City at Indiana in a rematch of last season's NBA Finals followed by Denver at Golden State with three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets facing two-time NBA MVP Curry. October 27 will see Cleveland at Detroit and Denver at Minnesota. Martin Luther King Jr. Day games on January 19 will include Milwaukee at Atlanta, Oklahoma City at Cleveland, Dallas at New York and Boston at Detroit. js/ea
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Fulton to return to Timberwolves for pre-season
CJ Fulton will return to the United States in September to link up with NBA side the Minnesota Timberwolves for their pre-season. The former Belfast Star player featured for the Timberwolves in the NBA Summer League, where he played four minutes in their 89-85 win against the Phoenix Suns last month. The appearance made him the third Irish-born player to take to the court at the highest level in the United States after Pat Burke and Susan Moran and, after impressing in Las Vegas, he has been invited back to train with the squad. Fulton has not signed a deal with the NBA franchise, but will now get the opportunity to prepare for the season with the franchise's full roster, including All Star Anthony Edwards. The back-to-back Western Conference finalists are scheduled to play six exhibition games, including hosting Guangzhou Loong Lions of China, before their regular-season opener against the Denver Nuggets on 27 October. Fulton initially caught the attention of the Timberwolves with his displays in the college game where he represented Lafayette and the Charleston Cougars, averaging 7.8 points and 6.5 assists per game for the latter during his senior year. The 22-year-old missed out on selection in the NBA draft in June but can still realise his dream of appearing in the league. Although the G-League - the NBA's team-affiliated development league - or a professional career in Europe remain options for the former St Malachy's College pupil, securing a place on an NBA roster is still the primary goal. 'It would be pretty big' - Fulton embracing NBA dream
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
WNBA ratings and attendance are still strong despite top stars missing games with injuries
NEW YORK (AP) — Even with many of its top stars sidelined, the WNBA has still had strong ratings and attendance numbers this season. Injuries have kept Caitlin Clark, Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier and Angel Reese out, but that hasn't dampened fan interest in the league. ESPN games are up slightly over last season and games on ABC are up 17%. Attendance has also still been strong, thanks to the addition of the Golden State Valkyries this season, who have sold out all of their home games, averaging more than 18,000 fans. Still, it's not all been rosy for the league with negative attention coming towards the WNBA with a number of sex toys being thrown on the court at various arenas over a two-week span. That has subsided over the last few days. For the most part, even without their stars, those teams have been able to play at a high level. Minnesota has won all three games without Collier — the MVP frontrunner — who is sidelined with a right ankle sprain, to remain in first place in the standings, increasing their lead to 6 1/2 games over New York and Atlanta. Indiana has gone 6-2 over its last eight games without Clark, who has been out for nearly a month with a right groin injury. She is progressing from the injury but still is not practicing. The second-year guard told Sue Bird on her podcast that she feels a level of 'responsibility' to play, knowing that so many people have been drawn to the league because of her. 'I think that's definitely been hard. I'm going to go to every road game no matter what, whether I'm playing or not. It's hard because obviously I do feel this responsibility of being out there and playing,' Clark said. New York has been up and down without Stewart, who said she plans to be back by the end of the month from a bone bruise in her right knee. Honoring Sue The Seattle Storm will unveil a statue of Sue Bird on Saturday before the team faces Phoenix on Sunday. Seattle is the first franchise in WNBA history to dedicate a statue to a former player. Early next month, Bird will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Power poll rankings Minnesota remained the No. 1 team in the poll with Atlanta and New York still behind the Lynx. Phoenix and Las Vegas followed the Liberty. The Aces are riding a four-game winning streak. Indiana, Los Angeles and Golden State are next. Seattle fell to ninth as the Storm have lost five straight games. Washington and Dallas came after the Storm with Chicago and Connecticut rounding out the poll. Player of the week A'ja Wilson of Las Vegas was the AP player of the week after averaging 25.3 points, 13 rebounds and 3.7 assists to help the Aces win all three of their games last week. She had the first 30-point, 20-rebound game in league history in a win over Connecticut on Sunday. Other players receiving votes included Kelsey Plum of Los Angeles and Alyssa Thomas of Phoenix. Game of the week New York at Minnesota, Saturday. The Lynx beat the Liberty in New York last Sunday and now don't play again until the two teams tip off in Minnesota. New York has back-to-back games in Los Angeles and Las Vegas before heading to Minnesota. ___ AP WNBA:
