Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | 2023-24 End-of-Season Interview | OKC Thunder

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | 2023-24 End-of-Season Interview | OKC Thunder

sh obviously not the way that you guys wanted to end it but Markus just talked about the the year-over-year growth that within the year growth even within the playoffs growth that you guys showed uh how proud are you of this group yourself all of you for for navigating what you did and managing to get better throughout it all yeah um I think above all it was just very fun um and I think that’s where it all starts like every day you come to work well it doesn’t feel like work um but you come to work and you try to excel um individually and as a group um and when you have so much fun it makes everything else easier and kind of clouds all the bad stuff because you’re having so much fun um so that’s what I’m like most like proud of about and most grateful for how how fun this group has been um and how much this group has like taking the ease off of of all the pressure and all the the stuff that gets heavy in this game what’s made this group so fun cuz we know all of you guys love to compete you’re having fun out there you know just hooping but we see the joy that you guys have you know on the sidelines or just around each other for what makes this group so fun to you yeah um it’s a unique blend of characters um that ultimately like we all have the same goal um and all of us are are selfless and want to accomplish that goal um and then I guess we just have a a group of guys that are funny and and good to get along with um but yeah it’s super unique it’s something I’ve never felt before from a basketball team um and it’s hard to find especially at this stage in your career um something I’ll never take for granted went into the balance we saw from you guys that obviously the fun the joy the levity but also when you guys were on the court there was just a focus and a real sense of professionalism just what went into that balance um we um we were all super competitive at the end of the day um like we we get into it at practice go back and forth talk smack like on the court it’s super competitive um but off the court we are so close and so connected and we gen genuinely care about each other um that we know it’s like coming from the right place and we know that like we have each other’s back um and and when you you have that like kind of feeling you feel a little bit Invincible a little bit indestructible because your teammates like your brothers um are all behind you just Mark was talking about he said this a few times year but he’s talked about you guys as like individual contractors and he’s mentioned that you guys don’t necessarily need to have that that bond that you have but you you do and so like where does that come from how does that start organically um I don’t I don’t no um we’ve like this this the group ever since I’ve been in Oklahoma it’s been really tight um and it feels like the younger we get the the closer we get um I don’t know if just because we’re all around the same age um but it’s it’s it’s definitely definitely made like a difference uh in our performance um and our like together on the court our resilience um like we can all feel it um and and myself and guys who were here like early like Lou musky K Rich um you can feel like the togetherness of this group and you can feel like how it’s affected the group um it’s a really good feeling is that unusual just around the league I mean you talk to other people around the league I mean you’ve been here for most of your one year in LA but is that on you usual that that you got that way absolutely um honest I it feels like it’s unusual period like I’ve never been this close to a basketball team in my life um maybe my a team I lied like those guys like I went to high school with and then we left high school and went to Au practice and then we left there and they came over to my house I went over to their house um but like since then it I haven’t feel this connected um and naturally so you you grow up you have your own lives you have families um and you go your own separate ways but um this group’s uh togetherness has been special for sure with that in mind you know you become a father during this playoff run and getting to being with this close group and getting to go through all of those emotions and experiences what’s that been like for you as well yeah it’s been amazing um a lot of learning um a lot of Joy a lot of Love uh um it’s super humbling um puts a lot of things into perspective um shows you what like really matters in life um and kind of like takes your mind off to things that don’t really matter last season you you mentioned this um Team like a bunch of high school kids how do you describe it now is it still the high school kids absolutely um we might have got younger might be elementary school kids uh yeah we um we have so much like we have so much fun um together crack jokes um before the game after the game wins losses um we have so much fun that it just makes everything easier um even a night like last night like there’s no group I rather lose like that with in this group um and it’s a good feeling just Mark was talking last night saying that he wants you guys to use the feeling from the loss as an investment just how much do you agree with that and I guess are you trying to to weaponize that feeling of sords are you is there a part of you just holding on to that thing absolutely um I would agree with it 100% um like the moment I stepped off the court um I felt like like well we’re here um like we’ve lost we’ve lost for a reason um and all you can do is learn and get better from that um and that’s how you ultimately get to where you want to go um and where we want to go um it would be great to win a championship this year it’ be great to achieve all of our goals goals um but more often than not you don’t get them when you want them you get them when you deserve them um and I think this is a bump in the road and we learn from it we get better and hopefully we get to our goal one day I think a lot of the optimism from the outside or this team comes from you know you guys being so young people believing that there is this long window that you guys have are you where do you fall in that belief of you know how long a window is in NBA to to win a championship yeah um I don’t like I don’t really I don’t know if I don’t believe in like a window or I don’t like focus on it um but I just feel like a window is like looking into the future and looking into like something you can’t control um so all you can do is like try to make make the best with what you have in that moment um and try to maximize what you have uh and then from there you you get what you get um but I yeah window can be whatever someone says it can be but I don’t really focus on it or really believe in it Mark was sharing a story from his first season as coach you guys were going through a pregame walkthrough at the arena um that was the year where there was no fans but basically saying like picturing t-shirts over the seats and like the playoff type atmosphere to now be at this point like what do you think when you like look back to the kind of the beginning of this journey yeah um it’s amazing um like you you put in the work you do all the right things um and you hope to achieve your goals like so many people and whatever they try to do in life do the right things and work super hard and just never get there um and to achieve your goals is something you can’t take for granted um and and that’s something I try not to do uh it’s it’s super blessing it’s an amazing feeling um it’s also motivational like getting getting there um knowing what it feels like um knowing how it feels to lose in those situations um it’s kind of a feeling you want to stay away from and and you only stay away from it by getting better um and and overcoming it and that’s something that I is a big goal of mine sh all time grades get to the level that you’re at right now even though their numbers either slightly different or stay the same they add those small things to become a better player what are the some of the things that you want to add to your game to become a better player even though it might seem like your number stay the same um good question I don’t I don’t it’s a little bit too soon for me to pinpoint 100% and no but just like off the top of my head um you can always be more efficient always um so I work on efficiency in every area um can always be better defensively um on and off the ball uh and then just um continuing to make sure my game doesn’t like hinder people around me and hinder the development of my teammates um which is just as important as my development talk about hindering the development of teammates like especially in late game situations a lot of players are different where you have a look for LeBron takes makes the best player Kobe takes a lot of shots uh how did you come to the decision to be the guy that you are I think you’ve been pretty open about being a Kobe guy um and it’s kind of opposite of of how he plays like how did you come the decision to be I’m going to be lean more towards the way LeBron um I guess it’s was just the way I was taught to play um you um make the right play you uh you like try to keep the defense on their toes with that but um it’s that’s another battle that you all go through as a great player and as a closer you should have passed it he should have shot it um if you pass it and it goes in great pass if you make it and you miss terrible shot and vice versa um it’s a it’s it’s give or take you know so at the end of the day I think it comes down to just trusting your work and trusting your decision- making um and living with the results um and then people are going to have their opinions um on your decision but it doesn’t it shouldn’t affect your decision as long as you’re confident in it and you ride with it you’ll be all right sh you talked about sort of like the dreams and aspirations of being in some these spots in the playoffs as every kid who picks up a basketball wants to be sort of in your spot Allstar teams all NBA teams top five NBA MVP finishes at what point did that feel like tangible for you not just like making the NBA but like being one of the five best players in the entire world yeah [Music] um sometimes I like I sit back and it’s surreal um just like where I was a decade ago the thing that I’m here now is a is a crazy feeling um like you’re always taught to like dream big um believe in yourself um but like growing up I was very um a little delusional many would say um and like I guess I probably sounded crazy back then and sounded a little bit too confident um but I always like I always had a feeling that I would get here um I just always knew like I could control my my destiny and where I end up to a certain degree um I know how hard I worked um like I knew how bad I wanted it um and and I was willing to do whatever it took to to to get here um and I don’t think it’s like coincidence that I’m here I think I I earned it um and it’s for a good reason have the Olympics coming up this summer can you just talk about your excitement for that and then there’s this new like International flow of players coming in do you feel like you’re part of that being Canadian or is it like not separate enough from like USA basketball um yeah I’m super excited for team k Canada um to play with a lot of guys I grew up with uh get to play real games in the summer that’s always fun um play for my country try to do something that’s never been done before um yeah it’ll be super fun and then uh that’s a great question I don’t know uh I I don’t know I guess I’m International but like I’m down the street so I don’t so I don’t really know I don’t know I guess on paper I’m International but it feels like it doesn’t feel like it it’s been a few years since you’ve been in the playoffs and you’ve improved a lot since the last time you be were the playoffs what was it like in the waiting time you know in the preparation for and then what did it feel like to actually be in the playoffs for yeah the waiting was stressful um it sucked um but all I could do was make sure I was prepared once the moment came and that’s what I tried to do and tried to focus on um now the moment being here felt really good um there’s nothing like it it’s hard to emulate hard to replicate um it’s what you everything goes into it your off season the whole 82 Game season um you playing basketball as a kid you’re 10 years old like everything goes into playoff time and trying to win a championship um and the feeling like being in just the opportunity to try to get that done was like an honor and a really good feeling I was going to say do you get the feeling that this group has like the capacity to win a championship like what you guys have now [Music] um I like I feel like we I feel like we can do anything we want to do um like I feel like like if I told you if you knew me 15 years ago and I told you I was going to be who I am today you’d laugh at me if I told somebody this time last year that we’d be number one team in the west at then 82 season they laugh at me um so like I think it’s just myself but I always think like you can do whatever you want to do you just have to put the work in and if you put the work in and deserve it you’ll get it um so if we put enough work in um do the right things Stay Together on and off the court um play the right type of basketball and do what it takes to win a championship we’ll we’ll earn and we’ll get a championship but if we don’t do that we won’t get it it’s that simple keep referencing who you were 10 years ago 15 years ago like like who were you then um and where were you yeah um back home in Hamilton got cut from a couple teams wasn’t really that good uh like I barely played on my like ninth grade A Team um and I was telling guys like I’m going to NBA that doesn’t really make sense but um yeah I just always had this feeling yeah yeah sorry so um Everybody Talk highly uh about your leadership what what kind of leader do you think you are and what kind of leader you want to be yeah um I try to lead by example um I’ve always like I just felt like that’s the most natural way for me to lead um like I can’t ask my teammates to do something that I physically won’t do myself um it can’t as him to sacrifice if I want sacrifice myself um and I feel like that’s just through my experiences life like I get the most respect out of people when they take action um as opposed to word so I just feel like that the most natural and effective way to lead about you being nth grade you thought you said you going to be in the NBA never life like yeah right whatever what did you know about yourself that they didn’t um how bad I wanted it um yeah I like how motivated I was um I kind of mentioned this yesterday like when I fail and lose um is when I’m most motivated and I think getting cut kind of like kickstarted that um and that was around that period of time of course

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander speaks with media at end-of-season interviews.

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