When Shai Gilgeous-Alexander laced up his shoes at Kentucky for the first time, few thought they were looking at a future NBA MVP. But here we are, and SGA is at the top of the basketball world, looking for a second straight NBA title as the Oklahoma City Thunder's undeniable star.
What SGA has done the last two seasons is incredible. He's the reigning NBA MVP (with a shot for another), an NBA Finals MVP, an NBA Champion, and has a the scoring title. According to The Oklahoman, he became only the 4th ever player to do so. Why then is everyone tired of watching him play?
Flopping, and flopping on end. Colin Cowherd called Gilgeous-Alexander out directly on X:
"Watching him flop in an NBA game is like inserting one of those Life Alert commercials - I've fallen and I can't get up! - into Cirque du Soleil. It tears at the fabric of the creativity of the NBA."@colincowherd says it's time for the NBA to address SGA's flopping pic.twitter.com/JXexhKA3uJ
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) May 6, 2026
"Tears the fabric of the creativity," may be harsh, but one look at the numbers suggests that Cowherd may not be all that far off.
A Free Throw Merchant?
Over the last two seasons (not including postseason play) Gilgeous-Alexander has attempted 1556 free throws. That leads the league. No. 2 is James Harden, all the way back at 1192 attempts. That's an unbelievable gap.
Sure, NBA superstars get a fittingly star-studded whistle. This longtime trend on the professional level isn't exclusive to any single player and, through that lens, SGA is only the latest in a long line of guys who know how to play the system in order to "get theirs."
But this viral video from Chalkboard, also on X, makes just how wild a point that this specific case has reached:
SGA flopped FIVE TIMES in one quarter 🤯
— Chalkboard (@ChalkboardHQ) May 6, 2026
It gets to a point 💔 pic.twitter.com/H5OTDjBxfq
The question isn't really whether or not this fan-favorite former Cat is flopping; the man is clearly guilty. The question is: Could you take it out of the game if you tried? I'd hope so, because ever since Dwayne Wade popularized the "flailing head trick" on drives (fake patent pending), it's been hard to take the NBA's standard for fouls seriously
And the worst part is that SGA doesn't even need to flop, flail, or fake. He can get a bucket just about any way he wants it but, just as it has with countless big names on the professional level, the bug to draw a whistle every trip down seems to have taken over.
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