Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is sometimes criticized for the tactics he uses to draw fouls, but former NBA star Gilbert Arenas seems to think the criticism is unwarranted.<\/p>\n
In fact, Arenas believes there\u2019s a history of OKC players being targeted by narratives. He spoke about it during an episode of his show and said he wished narratives could\u2019ve come up enough during the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs to help the Los Angeles Lakers move on.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is y\u2019all problems with OKC?\u201d Arenas questioned. \u201cYou did it to Russ (Russell Westbrook), K.D. (Kevin Durant). You did it to K.D. You\u2019re doing it to Shai. Hey, can we get a memo? Can I get a bulletin memo. Just say, \u2018We don\u2019t like OKC.\u2019 \u2026 The narratives is destroying legacies over there. I don\u2019t know what it is, man. I\u2019ma just be honest with you.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy y\u2019all couldn\u2019t do this when the Lakers was playing? \u2026 Y\u2019all should\u2019ve been running this narratives so the Lakers could\u2019ve moved on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unfortunately for the Lakers, there may not be a narrative out there that would\u2019ve been enough of a distraction to help the team get past the Thunder this season. The Lakers were swept in the second round by the MVP\u2019s squad, and a majority of the games were decided by double digits.<\/p>\n
The series victory allowed the Thunder to advance to the Western Conference Finals, where they had a date with the San Antonio Spurs. That series delivered, with the teams exchanging blows before the Spurs beat the Thunder on the road in Game 7 to end OKC\u2019s season.<\/p>\n
Gilgeous-Alexander actually had a bit of a shaky postseason by his standards from the second round on. In 11 games against the Lakers and Spurs, he averaged 25.4 points per game (several points below his season average) and was held to 43.0 percent shooting from the field and 30.2 percent shooting from deep.<\/p>\n