“He’s gonna get treated… Like Michael Jordan or LeBron” - Former 6th Man of the Year outlines why OKC Thunder should fear the possibility of star guard leaving the franchise
Former NBA player Eddie Johnson believes that OKC Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could get treated like a superstar by opposing teams. Gilgeous-Alexander has shown he can tilt the game on its head single-handedly.
According to Johnson, he could get treated like Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Kevin Durant if he continues to play at a high level for OKC.
Teams have been physical with those superstars to limit them. However, Jordan, James and Durant have also played on winning teams. That isn't the case with Gilgeous-Alexander. Here's what Johnson said regarding this on Sirius XM NBA Radio:
"He (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) is gonna get treated on a bad team, like Michael Jordan or LeBron or Jayson Tatum or Kevin Durant. ... You're gonna get treated just like they do, but for opposite reasons.
"If you don't stop them, you're gonna lose the game. In your case, they just wanna take you out of it because they don't want to have a tough game. They're gonna win but they just don't want to have to deal with you in the fourth quarter, throw a game away."
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander says he believes in his team.
Eddie Johnson explains what Shai and the Thunder might have to go through in the near future
@JumpShot8 | @TermineRadio https://t.co/SWcaAyQpMc
Johnson added why that could be a problem for the Thunder, saying:
"He's gonna have to go through that physicality every night. And he's going to be saying to himself, 'I'm going through all this physicality to get beat up, knocked around. And it ain't doing nothing for me.' That's the fear that Oklahoma City Thunder has to worry about."
The OKC Thunder had a 46-108 record in the past two seasons. With No. 2 pick Chet Holmgren out for a year due to injury, they are unlikely to get better this season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander produced All-Star-worthy numbers during that stretch. In the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, he averaged 23.7 points and 24.5 points, respectively.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shut down trade rumors linking him away from OKC Thunder
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shut down the possibility of him moving from the OKC Thunder. The point guard said that the losing seasons should end soon. He also said that he knew what he was getting into when signing the rookie-scale five-year supermax extension last summer.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the speculation that he would want out of Oklahoma City
"I know what I signed up for when I signed a 5 year extension... and I don't think we're gonna be losing for much longer."
"I believe in this team" https://t.co/5Un4Hsb92f
The Thunder are still miles away from becoming a playoff contender. However, they have the assets to turn into a competitive force in the Western Conference. Gilgeous-Alexander will be a crucial piece in the team's hopes of speeding up their process.
He has already hit the leap as an All-Star caliber player. The Thunder need to make sure they don't spend a lot of time rebuilding their roster around the Canadian point guard.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may be committed to the franchise now, but things can change quickly in the NBA. It would be best for the OKC Thunder to speed up the process if they are hellbent on keeping Gilgeous-Alexander and building a contender around him.