NBA Hall of Famer Steve Nash said this past week that Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is “getting into the heir statistically of people like Michael Jordan (though he added that such comparisons are normally considered “sacrilege to say”).
Suffice to say, SGA was flattered.
“I don’t really love the comparisons, just because he’s done so many things for the game of basketball,” he told NBA on Prime’s Taylor Rooks on Saturday. “Just to be in those conversations is surreal. If you ask me, though, I’m still very, very far away. I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
There’s no doubt that SGA is starting to build quite the case for himself as one of the top players in his generation. The defending MVP and champion is averaging 32.6 points, 6.5 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game this season, shooting an impressive 56.2 percent from the field and 45.4 percent from three.
It doesn’t get much more efficient than that, and while Luka Dončić (35 PPG) might be the current frontrunner for MVP, Gilgeous-Alexander is certainly in that conversation. The Jordan conversation might a touch premature, but there’s no doubt that SGA is doing special things.
