Analyst Makes Extremely Bold Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Statement Before Thunder-Pacers NBA Finals originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are gearing up for their first NBA Finals since 2012 after defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals. The Thunder have continued to display the dominance they showed in the regular season, beating Minnesota with a gentleman’s sweep.
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The reason for that remains the play of superstar Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He continues to prove night in and night out that he’s the best player in the league and was deserving of the Most Valuable Player award he took home.
Mar 12, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) drives to the basket beside Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) during the first quarter at Paycom Center. © Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Analyst makes bold Shai Gilgeous-Alexander statement
The Thunder hope this trip to the NBA Finals goes better than the last, when they fell to the LeBron James-led Miami Heat. However, this Thunder team feels different. They’re tenacious on defense, which helped them to the league’s best record in the regular season.
The Thunder are overwhelming favorites to defeat the Indiana Pacers at -700, which implies a probability of 87.5%. NBA analyst Ric Bucher gave his take on what a championship would do for Gilgeous-Alexander.
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“It would put [Shai] in the conversation of top 5 point guards of all-time,” Bucher said on FS1’s The Facility. “Because if he wins Finals MVP, and he’s won regular season MVP, it goes to stand that he also won the championship.”
“As young as he is, and as much as we’re just being introduced to SGA, you look at that kind of season, that kind of dominance in one year, I don’t know how you don’t have him in the conversation for top-five point guard.”
Suggesting that a 26-year-old is ready to be put into any top-five list sounds crazy at first. However, Bucher might be on to something.
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This is Gilgeous-Alexander’s third straight season averaging 30-plus points per game. While he won the MVP award this season, he had finished second in the voting last season and fifth in 2023. It’s also his third-straight season as an All-NBA First Team member.
Gilgeous-Alexander has much more to achieve in his career, but a championship and Finals MVP would at least start the conversation of being an all-time player.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 3, 2025, where it first appeared.