It’s going to happen. You can guarantee it. At some point in the Oklahoma City Thunder‘s Round 2 series against the Los Angeles Lakers, the latter’s supersized fanbase will invade social media with slowed-down clips of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to prove one point.
Gilgeous-Alexander gets an unfair whistle. He foul-baits his opponents. He initiates contact. His nonstop flopping is a poison to the integrity of the sport. Blah. Blah. Blah. About every other NBA fanbase has voiced those same complaints to the ether over the years. It comes with the territory of basketball dominance.
That’s why Austin Reaves’ answer was a breath of fresh air. Also known to dive into the dark arts of generating contact to get to the free-throw line, the Lakers’ homegrown scorer refused to swing at the slow-pitch setup question about Gilgeous-Alexander’s free-throw numbers.
“I know that’s a tough topic to talk about because everybody blows it out of proportion. He wants to win and is gonna do whatever it takes to win,” Reaves said. “If it’s shoot 20 free throws, so be it. If I shoot 20 free throws, I’d be happy. I don’t think there’s any bad intentions with trying to get to the line.”
Smart. While you could say Gilgeous-Alexander’s ascension into being a 30-point scorer over the last four seasons can be tied to his free-throw numbers, the same can be said about every all-time bucket-getter. It’s the secret fourth level of scoring that every pseudo-NBA-All-Star hopes to unlock to become a perennial MVP candidate.
Gilgeous-Alexander averaged a measly 4.9 free-throw attempts in his first four seasons. In his next four seasons — when he graduated into NBA superstar status — that number jumped to 9.3 attempts. In a similar vein, Reaves went from a nice undrafted rookie to slowly climbing Los Angeles’ ladder. Becoming a 20-point scorer over the last two years, he’s averaged 5.9 free-throw attempts.
The Thunder will enter their Round 2 series against the Lakers as the overwhelming favorite. As they should. They dominated the rest of the league and look primed to go back-to-back. They’ve also had Los Angeles’ number this year, with four blowout wins this past regular season.
Whatever happens, it feels like both sides respect the other’s ability. At least for now. The Thunder won’t take the Lakers lightly after they won an NBA playoff series without Luka Doncic. And Los Angeles understands the magnitude of its upcoming challenge and how daunting the odds are against it.
Austin Reaves was asked about his and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s ability to draw fouls.
“I know that’s a tough topic to talk about because everybody blows it out of proportion. He wants to win and is gonna do whatever it takes to win. If it’s shoot 20 free throws, so be it. If I… pic.twitter.com/tbwaO2i6e4
— Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) May 3, 2026
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Austin Reaves defends Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on this 1 controversial subject