Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his Legacy with the Thunder

After Russell Westbrook broke the NBA record for career triple-doubles, it seemed like the generational magic dust in Oklahoma City had all but dissipated from its humid air.

A franchise 11 years young at the time had ostensibly reached its peak. The climb to the top involved stops with future Hall of Fame players Kevin Durant, James Harden, Carmelo Anthony, Paul George, and the unnervingly loyal metamorphosis of the city’s darling, Westbrook.

Teams typically see just one of these players walk through their doorways once a generation. The Thunder saw four stroll through the Thunder ION in just over a decade. But the age-old saying that those blessed with the most are cursed just the same held; Harden’s exit and rise to stardom, Durant’s betrayal, the failed Carmelo Anthony experiment, and one Damian Lillard.

Lillard’s incredible long-range shot that struck the dagger in the heart of Oklahoma City—right in the Paycom Center, if the municipality of OKC had a heart—proved to be the necessary tragedy for basketball’s version of a spiritual transformation.

Thunder General Manager Sam Presti, to his credit, foresaw the writing on the wall. The team constructed around Westbrook and George was not going to compete in the evolving and talent-rich Western Conference.

And as prophetic as Presti may be, even he could not have foreseen what would come next in the best way imaginable. Even one of those philosophical Presti wisdom bombs dispersed among his hour-plus press conferences once admitted, “luck plays a larger role in our lives than we’d like to admit.”

Luck, along with a Hollywood-homesick Kawhi Leonard, played a huge role in this truly cinematic narrative that would eventually see Oklahoma City the star of the whole show.

After Leonard’s recruitment efforts prompted George to ask for a trade from OKC a year after he proclaimed he was “here to stay,” the Thunder’s stay at the contender’s mountaintop appeared to be ending.

Presti had to act quickly and assess the Los Angeles Clippers’ resources to decide what he’d like in return. Among a treasure trove of his preferred substance—draft picks—lay a second team All-NBA rookie selection. A lanky player who had steadily improved during his rookie year and whose name took everyone a second to pronounce correctly: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Gilgeous-Alexander was the 11th selection in the 2018 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets, who then traded him on draft night to the Clippers after his freshman season at Kentucky—a foreshadowing of his career trajectory: constant improvement.

The man they call SGA started the year coming off the bench but earned a starting job and the lion’s share of scoring opportunities by the time of the Wildcats’ tournament run in March.

After SGA declared for the draft in April, Kentucky head coach John Calipari spoke glowingly of his then 19-year-old point guard.

“Someone is going to take him, and everybody is going to say, ‘How did people pass on him?’” Calipari said in May of 2018. “He’s going to be that.”

Calipari proved prophetic, but he wouldn’t be the last.

NBA mainstay Doc Rivers was the Clippers’ head coach during SGA’s rookie year and has coached benches that have included Kevin Garnett, Chris Paul, Tracy McGrady, and Paul Pierce. 

As Gilgeous-Alexander has taken the NBA by storm in recent years, Rivers has lamented the Clippers’ decision to deal him.

In a 2023 interview with The Oklahoman, Rivers admitted he tried to convince Leonard to keep SGA instead of prying George from OKC.

“I kept saying, ‘Kawhi, Shai is going to be a star,’” Rivers said.

Leonard reportedly asked how long it would take. Rivers replied, “I don’t know how long, but he’s going to be one.”

It’s important to acknowledge that George was coming off the best season of his career, finishing top-three in MVP and Defensive Player of the Year voting. So while Rivers believed in Gilgeous-Alexander, he was still eager to coach George alongside Leonard. So, the trade was made.

The final deal sent George to the Clippers for Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, five first-round picks—one of which became future All-Star teammate Jalen Williams—and two pick swaps.

After the shockwave of another nocturnal trade bomb among many in the NBA archives, fans in Oklahoma City were stunned. Then came the stages of grief before acceptance.

They accepted the Thunder were headed for a rebuild, and that Westbrook would likely be dealt.

Six days after the George trade, Westbrook was sent to the Houston Rockets for two first-round picks, two pick swaps, and Chris Paul.

The feeling among Thunder fans resembled a first heartbreak: Will we ever find someone better? It’ll never feel magical like that again. How could we ever find someone who compares?

It was SGA’s answer to that last question that would offer clarity—no one will compare, and that’s okay.

In August, about a month and a half after being traded, Gilgeous-Alexander was asked about the pressure to live up to Westbrook’s legacy.

“I am not Russell Westbrook,” he said. “I’m just going to try to be myself, and everything else will take care of itself.”

It was the first glimpse of his tranquil and prudent nature in Thunder Blue. It also marked a stark contrast to Westbrook’s fervor, symbolizing a turning of the page, which Presti took note of the night the two were swapped. 

On a late night at the Thunder’s ION practice facility, Presti, emotional after trading the face of the franchise, heard the echo of a ball bouncing. Curious, he entered an office to find SGA—without Thunder gear—getting shots up.

It was emblematic of the passing of the torch between two faces of the franchise.

“It was just ironic,” Presti later said. “If this guy ever becomes a player, I’ve got to remember this story.”

In his first season with the Thunder, SGA showed he could be that player.

He increased his scoring average from 10.8 to 19.0, becoming the leading scorer on a Thunder team that shocked the NBA with a 2020 bubble playoff appearance after being given just a 0.2% chance at the start of the year.

That team became the sixth seed and pushed the Rockets to seven games before a heartbreaking exit.

Chris Paul was traded to Phoenix the following season, and Shai soon had the keys to the offense.

The Thunder lost often in 2020-21, but they gained something more important- they knew they had their guy.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s offensive game deepened, his playmaking improved, and he became an NBA personality. The fits, the captions, the confidence; the declarative “I’m him!” after a logo three in Los Angeles. He had arrived.

He continued to improve through the 2021-22 season before the Thunder added more talent, most notably Jalen Williams, ahead of the 2022-23 season.

Shai made his first All-Star team that year and jumped from 24.5 to 31.4 points per game on elite efficiency. It was the superstar leap fully realized.

The Thunder finished 41-41, earned a play-in spot, beat the New Orleans Pelicans behind Shai’s 32, and then fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves. But they sent a message: they’d be back.

With another draft addition in Cason Wallace and the return of Chet Holmgren after he sat out his whole rookie season with a foot injury, the Thunder were primed for a proper breakout in the 2023-24 season.

Gilgeous-Alexander followed his breakout with an even more complete campaign that year, averaging 30.1 points, 5.5 assists, and 5.5 rebounds while posting elite defensive numbers and leading OKC to the No. 1 seed in the West.

He finished second in MVP voting behind Nikola Jokić, but more importantly, the Thunder returned to the playoffs.

He led them to a first-round sweep of the New Orleans Pelicans before facing Dallas. After taking Game 1, OKC struggled in Games 2 and 3 thanks to P.J. Washington’s ascension to Steph Curry-level shooting. 

Down 2-1, Game four became a defining moment. SGA delivered, leading his team to a win with clutch shotmaking and poise.

The Thunder lost the series in six, but they gained clarity. There were no more questions about their best player.

In the offseason, OKC traded Josh Giddey for Alex Caruso and signed Isaiah Hartenstein, strengthening the roster margins exposed against Dallas.

In 2024-25, everything aligned. SGA averaged 30 points on historic efficiency, led the Thunder to 60 wins, and elevated his two-way play.

He also quietly began a historic streak. On November 1, 2024, he scored 30 points against Portland—the start of a run that would become the longest streak of consecutive 20-point games in NBA history.

The Thunder claimed the one seed again, swept the first round again, and then faced the Denver Nuggets.

Down 2-1 on the road, Gilgeous-Alexander delivered another gutsy win. OKC eventually won Game seven in a blowout and advanced to the conference finals, then to the NBA Finals—their first since 2012 when those three basketball gods walked the red soil of Oklahoma.

It wasn’t easy, but they had a different kind of superstar this time. He was steady, consistent, and inevitable.

The Thunder won the championship in seven games. Gilgeous-Alexander earned Finals MVP and celebrated with the city that shaped his rise.

But the story didn’t end there.

Entering this season, SGA has been even better. Every game, at least 20 points.

On March 9, he had reached 126 consecutive 20-point games, tying Wilt Chamberlain for the most all-time. The next closest behind those two? Oscar Robertson at 79.

Then came the game against Boston.

With history on the line, SGA scored 35, hit a go-ahead shot in the final 30 seconds, and made it 127 straight games with at least 20 points.

He passed Chamberlain. And yet, nothing changed.

He remained the same work-ethic-driven, composed presence. The only difference was the record book.

Now, at the top of the list of consecutive 20-point games, sits one name, a name everyone now knows how to pronounce: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Over a thousand words of quotes, statistics, anecdotes, and storylines can attempt to capture his rise. But there’s only one word truly needed to describe Gilgeous-Alexander’s rise to the rarest of air in the NBA atmosphere:

Different.