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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, right, with UK coach John Calipari and other former UK players at the NBA All-Star Game. (UK Athletics Photo)
Former Kentucky standout Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has become one of the NBA’s biggest stars — he had 31 points on 7-for-10 shooting from 3-point range in the recent NBA All-Star Game — playing for Oklahoma City.
He was averaging 31.1 points, 6.5 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game going into the All-Star break and has averaged 22.5 points, 4.8 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game in 364 NBA games since entering the league six years ago as the 11th pick in the 2018 draft.
Former NBA star Stephon Marbury has called him the best Canadian basketball player ever.
“I appreciate that, but Steve is still ahead of me. I’m going to try to catch him, but he’s still ahead of me,” Gilgeous-Alexander said after the all-star game. “Whenever somebody says good things about you, it’s a compliment. Obviously he was a heck of a basketball player, knows the game really well, and I appreciate it.
“Kids all over the world just don’t get the opportunity because of where they’re born. I don’t take that for granted. To kind of have the flag on my back, it’s a special feeling. The country means the world to me. It gave me an opportunity. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here. So fortunate to be from there.”
Gilgeous-Alexander has become one of the NBA’s very best players and becoming an All-Star starter like he did this season only gives more validity to his star status. He was asked if becoming an All-Star starter might be a turning point to a potential Hall of Fame career.
“I honestly try to stay very present, try to stay in the moment, not look too far ahead, not look back and kind of just take advantage of every moment, whether it’s me working or it’s me just being grateful for where I am today. I try to just stay in the moment, and it’s worked out pretty good thus far. So I try to continue to do so,” the NBA point guard said.
“I think I’ve learned through experience — and obviously as a young kid it’s easy to get caught up in it, just going back to high school and rankings and things like that. I’ve just found so much success from, not blocking it out, but not letting it faze me or control me. I think I’ve just learned through that experience and figured out what works for me and then try to run with it. To this point, it’s not any harder, because I’ve grown through it being hard, I think, in the past.
The NBA has featured the former UK star in promos all season and certainly did in Indianapolis before the all-star game.
“It’s one of those things that I expected to happen as I got better as a basketball player and became more consistent. It comes with it. It’s fun. It’s stuff you dream about,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I’ve been dreaming about this, this moment, this point in my career. I know what comes with it. I embrace it.”
Remember Gilgeous-Alexander played behind Quade Green at UK to start his career before working his way into the starting lineup and becoming a one-and-done lottery pick.
What advice would he give to a young player hoping to one day play in the NBA like him?
“Work on your craft as much as possible. Pretty cliche. But I would say be a star in your role — that’s also a cliche,” Gilgeous-Alexander said at the All-Star Game. “I think when guys figure out what their game is going to look like, what their roles are going to be, and then attack it with everything they’ve got, you find the most success. I’d say that.”
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