The past week has turned out to be a very historic one for the NBA.
Last Tuesday, Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo scored a career-high 83 points in a win against the Washington Wizards. That is not a typo. It is the second-highest points scored in a game in NBA history, behind only Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in 1962. The last player to reach and surpass the 80-point mark was the late, great Kobe Bryant, over two decades ago.
Most recently, this past Thursday, another of Chamberlain’s records was not only challenged but also broken. Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points against Boston, marking the 127th straight game in which the two-time MVP has scored 20 points or more. Chamberlain’s 63-year-old record of 126 games has been permanently broken by a guard who is over half a foot shorter.
Unfortunately, in today’s sports world, good deeds often lead to trouble. As demonstrated by Adebayo’s historic performance, fans and pundits alike tried to dismiss what they saw. SGA’s luck would turn out to be no different.
SGA’s Foul Line Reputation
There is no doubt Gilgeous-Alexander is one of, if not the, best players in the NBA. However, with popularity comes polarization. Despite being crowned an NBA champion and Finals MVP, there is an undeniable faction of NBA fans who see him as overrated. In other words, heavy is the head that wears the crown.
Why? Two words: foul baiting. Let’s be clear from the start: SGA foul baits. No ifs, ands, or buts. We’ve all seen the viral clips of him using his signature pump fake to throw a defender off balance and then initiate contact. Of course, the occasional flailing of his arms to sell the foul also helps.
Does he sometimes get rewarded for minimal contact? Yes. For non-OKC fans, can it be annoying to watch? Absolutely. However, it is important to understand that many of the league’s top scorers have done this for decades.
The Lakers’ Luka Doncic currently leads the NBA in free-throw attempts per game, at 10.1. Alexander’s 9.1 attempts per game are second in the league; however, the criticism he receives is first-rate. Doncic, although known as a referee complainer, does not get nearly as much negative press as SGA regarding foul-baiting.
He is still fully recognized as the generation’s top scorer. Gilgeous-Alexander’s name, however, is often marked with an asterisk by many, despite his 31.7-point-per-game average this season.
For example, consider these all-time great players: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Allen Iverson. Besides being elite scorers, these three names share something in common with SGA.
Over different seasons in their careers, they averaged over 8 free-throw attempts per game. Iverson tops the list with 13 seasons, followed by Bryant with eight. LBJ ranks third with five seasons, and SGA comes in last with four.
Additionally, Gilgeous-Alexander will almost certainly finish this season averaging 30+ points per game. If he achieves this, it will be the fourth time in his career that he has done so, something neither of the other Hall of Fame players has accomplished.
SGA Without The FT Line
Let’s set aside free throws for now. When it comes to field goals made per game, SGA leads the NBA with 10.9 per game. At the same time, he’s shooting an impressive 55% from the field, which is the best among all backcourt players in the NBA.
The effective 27-year-old doesn’t rely on the free throw line to damage defenses, and a former top scorer agrees. Lou Williams, who has won three Sixth Man of the Year awards, defended SGA:
“For (foul baiting) to even be effective for players, you have to be able to score the basketball… that’s why they’re running up and trying to guard him the way that they are trying to guard him,” said Williams. “…because you have to respect his ability to score the basketball.”
Williams brings up a solid point; if SGA wasn’t an elite volume scorer, why do defenders fall for the fakes that let him draw contact? Why does he get any whistles?
The league’s top and most talented players have always been the ones to receive quicker whistles. That tradition didn’t begin with Gilgeous-Alexander, and it definitely won’t end with him.
Instead of using SGA’s recent record as a reason to criticize, the NBA community should celebrate it. A player of this level only appears once every few decades, and his accomplishments will be remembered in NBA history, whether people like it or not.
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