NBA players come in all shapes and sizes. Some are as fast as lightning, while others are as tall as a mountain. At all times, the group of 10 players who always share the court is filled with unique personalities and contrasting beliefs on how they handle the intensity of professional basketball.
Some NBA players love to talk trash. It’s part of their basketball DNA. You can’t go a couple of possessions without trying to implement psychological warfare on your opponent. It’s one of the games within the game. But to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, he’s the opposite. He lets his buckets do the talking for him.
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Gilgeous-Alexander recently donned the GQ Magazine cover. It’s an honor that only the league’s best players receive. After an individual season that featured an MVP, NBA Finals MVP and a championship ring, he’s more than earned his way to the front of the magazine.
In his interview, Gilgeous-Alexander talked about a wide variety of topics. One was about his in-game behavior. He said he doesn’t really talk trash to his opponents. The 27-year-old doesn’t see much to gain out of it. Instead, the Thunder blowing teams out left and right is sufficient.
“Guys don’t really talk s–t to me,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I don’t do nothing that warrants talking s–t. I go out there, I have 30, we win, I go home. I’m not out there doing crazy stuff.”
That’s a stone-cold one-liner by Gilgeous-Alexander. And it rings true. If at any point in opposing player wants to get into his head, all he has to do is point at the scoreboard more often than not. The Thunder had one of the greatest seasons ever, which included setting the NBA record for point differential at plus-12.9.
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It’s always interesting to hear how the NBA’s best players approach trash-talking. Some love it — ala Russell Westbrook in his prime. While others don’t need the extra motivation to drop an efficient 30-plus points every night. Gilgeous-Alexander is on the latter and serves as quite the juxtaposition to other all-time OKC greats.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander keeps his in-game trash talk minimal