Latest news with #OKCThunder
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Magic Johnson Apologizes To OKC Thunder Moments After Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Wins West Finals MVP
Magic Johnson Apologizes To OKC Thunder Moments After Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Wins West Finals MVP originally appeared on Fadeaway World. The OKC Thunder have stunned the Timberwolves and sent them packing in Game 5 of their Western Conference Finals series. They won the game 124-94 to close out the series 4-1 in five games. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won the Magic Johnson Western Conference Finals MVP Award following his 34-point masterclass to help the Thunder close out the series. That makes two MVP awards for him in the same month, as earlier this month it was also declared that he is the recipient of the Michael Jordan MVP Award for the regular season. Advertisement Following the game, Magic Johnson himself took to social media to react to the Thunder's blowout win over the Timberwolves in Game 5, where they won by 30 points. He apologized to the Thunder for underestimating their abilities and congratulated Sam Presti, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and other related parties of the Thunder. "I want to apologize to the Oklahoma City Thunder for underestimating them and not thinking they were ready to compete for a Championship," he wrote on X right after the game ended. "I want to congratulate the Oklahoma City Thunder Coach Mark Daigneault as well as NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the rest of the OKC team on advancing to the NBA Finals!" wrote the Lakers legend on X. "Oklahoma City Thunder's fan base needs to give their GM, Sam Presti, a standing ovation for putting together an amazing roster!" he further added. Advertisement "Congratulations to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for winning the MVP of the Western Conference Finals named after me. What I love about Shai is that he dominates on the court and is humble off the court!" said Johnson as he congratulated SGA on winning the award named after him. He also congratulated the former Lakers player, Alex Caruso, for proceeding to the NBA Finals once again. Magic Johnson Picked The Minnesota Timberwolves To Win This Series Johnson even went on to criticize his pick in the series, the Minnesota Timberwolves. He called them out for bad body language and playing like they're already on vacation. Advertisement "The Minnesota Timberwolves did not put forth a desperation effort in tonight's game. They had bad body language and played like they were already on vacation." Before the series began, Johnson went on X to drop his predictions for the series. He picked the Knicks and the Timberwolves to win the respective conference finals. Turns out, both his predictions may be incorrect as the Timberwolves have been eliminated in five games and the Knicks are staring at elimination after going down 3-1 in their series against the Pacers. Related: "Work My Butt Off This Summer": Anthony Edwards Reacts To Embarrassing Game 5 Loss Against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder This story was originally reported by Fadeaway World on May 29, 2025, where it first appeared.
USA Today
21 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Several former OKC Thunder players react to 2025 NBA Finals berth
Several former OKC Thunder players react to 2025 NBA Finals berth As shirts and hats were handed out, the Oklahoma City Thunder briefly enjoyed the fruits of their labor. After a historic 68-14 season, they were a buzzsaw through the Western Conference. They beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games to punch their ticket to the 2025 NBA Finals. It's the first time the Thunder will be in the NBA Finals since 2012. 13 years and several iterations later, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander headlined OKC's journey back to the championship round. Considering the entire sports world paid attention to the Thunder, several former OKC players chimed in on the achievement. Here's what several said about their former franchise being back in the NBA Finals:
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Timberwolves Fans Heckle "Free Throw Merchant" Shai Gilgeous-Alexander During Game 4 Of NBA West Finals
The OKC Thunder somehow led through the second half despite the Timberwolves shooting 57% from the field. While the Timberwolves struggled with turnovers, they were a lot more efficient from beyond the arc. They shot 47% from beyond the three-point line in the first half. However, the Thunder ensured they kept the lead with a steady flow of offense coming from Jalen Williams (15 points), not just Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. They won the first half 65-57. Gilgeous-Alexander, however, led all scorers with 21 points in the first half. He went to the free throw line six times and made five of them. During a trip to the free-throw line, the Timberwolves fans started chanting "free throw merchant" in unison. This moment was caught on tape by SportsCenter. Gilgeous-Alexander led the league in the regular season for free-throw attempts with 8.8 per game. He apparently claims that his free-throw shooting has come under the microscope only because the Thunder are winning now. In 2022-23, when the Thunder finished as the 10th seed in the West, no one cared that he averaged nearly 11 free throws a game (10.9). Advertisement He seems to enjoy the attention that he is getting from fans due to his ability to reach the free-throw line and get 50-50 calls in his favor. What Others Think About Gilgeous-Alexander's Free-Throw Shooting From opposing coaches to players, almost no team has gone through this season without expressing frustration with the number of fouls Gilgeous-Alexander is able to draw. David Adelman, Michael Malone, Chris Finch, and even Anthony Edwards, almost all the recent opponents of Gilgeous-Alexander, have directly or indirectly called out the favorable whistle he gets from officials, especially during these Playoffs. Even during Game 4, Doris Burke, who has done this on broadcast before as well, called SGA a "free throw merchant" on air. Gilgeous-Alexander recently secured his first Michael Jordan MVP Award over Nikola Jokic, despite the Serbian averaging a triple-double in the season. While some of the discourse may stem from jealousy of that fact, most stems from the truth. Here's a look at the fouls he was able to draw in Game 1 of this West Finals series. It is visible from the video that in at least four of the 13 incidents mentioned, it was Gilgeous-Alexander who either initiated the contact or tripped over nothing and still got a call in his favor. Therefore, it is clear that he has developed a skill to draw fouls. Advertisement Only Giannis Antetokounmpo (12.6) and Donovan Mitchell (9.9) average more free-throw attempts than SGA (9.2) in the Playoffs this season. That's nearly 33% of his 28.7 points per game average in the Playoffs just coming from the free throw line. Do you think this excessive foul drawing has led to a fall in the viewership? Let us know what you think in the comments section. Related: Jaden McDaniels On Shoving Shai Gilgeous-Alexander To The Floor: "I Just Wanted To Foul Him For Real"
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ex-Timberwolves Player Exposes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Pettiness Over Anthony Edwards' Jersey
Ex-Timberwolves Player Exposes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Pettiness Over Anthony Edwards' Jersey originally appeared on Fadeaway World. We often hear criticism of the NBA due to players being friends with each other instead of rivals. However, despite the friendship era in the NBA, we still see players with a competitive spirit against the opposing teams. Let's look at the Western Conference Finals, for example. The OKC Thunder took a comfortable 3-1 lead in the series after their 128-126 win in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. Advertisement Patrick Beverley, the former teammate of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, claims the OKC Thunder superstar refused to dap him up after Game 4 in Minnesota simply because he was wearing an Anthony Edwards jersey. After his 40-point performance in Game 4, Gilgeous-Alexander refused to celebrate with his former teammate due to his competitive spirit. Beverley went on his podcast and spoke about the experience. 'I'mma tell you about Shai, how cold Shai is. I go to Shai after the game to dap him up. He says, 'I ain't gonna lie, I can't dap you up right now, OG.' Uh, the f**k? Why? 'Why? You had on that mf jersey. Jersey I had on was Anthony Edwards. That's the mindset you have to have. Don't even come near me with that jersey on- type sh*t. I respect it, I like it, that's how you have to be. I knew where it's coming from, it's coming from a good place, it's coming from an organic place, and he locked in. That's what I took like, oh yeah, he locked tf in right now, I love it' Gilgeous-Alexander was drafted by the Clippers during the time Patrick Beverley still played for them. Despite being former teammates with Beverley, he refused to greet him nicely because he was wearing his opponent, Anthony Edwards' jersey, at the game. To be fair to Beverley, you can't blame him for supporting the Timberwolves as he played for them and not for the Thunder. But Gilgeous-Alexander refused to mingle with the opposing side's fans, irrespective of his personal history with them. That's the type of competitive spirit we still respect around the league. Chris Finch Didn't Let Patrick Beverley Speak To Timberwolves Before Game 4 According to ESPN's Dave McMenamin, Chris Finch, the Timberwolves' head coach, spoke to the media about Patrick Beverley's attendance in the game. The reporters asked him whether he would invite Beverley to the locker room to speak to the team and motivate them. Advertisement 'No, I've had enough Pat Beverley pregame speeches," he said. Beverley played for the Timberwolves in the 2021-22 season. He played 52 games while averaging 9.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game. He was a part of the Clippers from 2017 to 2021. Chris Finch was hired by the Timberwolves in the same year they signed Patrick Beverley. Finch did not want a memory from his initial years with the Timberwolves in the locker room. The Timberwolves have now been eliminated from the Playoffs after a Game 5 loss on the road. They got blown out by 30 points and lost the game 94-124. Edwards finished the game with 19 points, while Gilgeous-Alexander had 34 points. Related: Isiah Thomas Says Thunder Are Treating Anthony Edwards Like 'The Bad Boy' Pistons Treated Michael Jordan This story was originally reported by Fadeaway World on May 29, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Joins Elite List With Michael Jordan, LeBron James After Game 5 Win In West Finals
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Joins Elite List With Michael Jordan, LeBron James After Game 5 Win In West Finals originally appeared on Fadeaway World. The OKC Thunder have now progressed to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012 after a blowout Game 5 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander secured his first Western Conference Finals MVP award as the Thunder beat the Timberwolves 124-94. Gilgeous-Alexander finished the game with 34 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals. He shot 14 of 25 from the floor (56%) and went 2 of 4 from beyond the three-point line. Advertisement He became one of three NBA players to ever score 30+ points and 5+ assists over 10 times in a single postseason. The other two players on that list are Michael Jordan, who did it in 1989, 1990, and 1992, and LeBron James, who did it in 2015, 2017, and 2018. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged 29.8 points, 6.9 assists, and 5.7 rebounds in 16 games played so far in the postseason. He had 30+ points and 5+ rebounds in all games except twice against the Grizzlies (Games 1 and 2), thrice against the Nuggets (Games 3, 4, and 7), and once against the Timberwolves (Game 3). Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Performs Like Michael Jordan For The Second Time This Season This is not the first time Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been named on the same list as Michael Jordan. Following his 40-point masterclass in Game 4, Gilgeous-Alexander became the first MVP since Jordan to have the most 30+ point games in a single season (combining both regular season and playoffs) with 59 30+ point games. Jordan had 50+ 30-point games four times in a single season, namely in 1988 (65), 1991 (59), 1992 (60), and 1996 (55). Advertisement Gilgeous-Alexander was initially tied with Jordan for sixth position on the list, topped by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (67 times), followed by Michael Jordan (65), Bob McAdoo (65), and Wilt Chamberlain (64). Then Jordan's 1992 season features once again on the list before SGA and MJ are tied for the sixth position. Following his 34-point performance in Game 5 of the series, he is now tied for fifth position on the list for most 30-point games in a single season. What LeBron James Thinks Of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander While discussing the mid-range game in the modern NBA with Steve Nash on his Mind the Game podcast, LeBron James spoke highly of Gilgeous-Alexander's style of play. Advertisement "The (shot) creators in our game have always worked on mid-ranges," James said. "The common fan will say there are no mid-ranges in our game. It's just fastbreaks, layups, threes, and free throws. But that's just absolutely not true." Even in the second half of last season, right before the All-Star break, he lauded Shai Gilgeous-Alexander alongside Anthony Edwards and claimed those two can keep the game of basketball alive after James retires. He was asked which young star he was looking forward to playing with the most in the All-Star game last year. "I would say Shai and Ant-Man (Anthony Edwards)," James said. "I feel like those are two of the guys who can continue the torch when I'm done, after Steph (Curry) and KD (Kevin Durant)." Related: Ex-Timberwolves Player Exposes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Pettiness Over Anthony Edwards' Jersey This story was originally reported by Fadeaway World on May 29, 2025, where it first appeared.
