Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the MVP elect, draws up perfect script with Game 1 win

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OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander loves to draw.

Not just fouls, mind you, though the Oklahoma City Thunder star enjoys that particular pastime quite a bit too. After all, you know your reputation as a “free throw merchant” is well-deserved when the great Doris Burke is referencing it for the viewing audience less than four minutes into the first game of the Western Conference Finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

But when the 26-year-old isn’t showcasing his artistry on the hardwood, he’s doing it on a sketch pad where he draws everything from fashion designs to the logo on his signature sneaker that was launched late last year. This is not the norm for NBA players who get their own shoe, and it came after he politely declined the many designs, created by other Converse artists, that came before it. The logo, which features mirrored number twos, not only represents his jersey number but his dynamic duality away from the NBA world.

Above all else, in other words, Gilgeous-Alexander is a young man who not only knows how to create a vision for himself and his team but can also execute it. Yet while his opening performance against these Timberwolves in the Thunder’s 114-88 win wasn’t quite on a Banksy level — he had 31 points, nine assists and five rebounds but shot just 10 of 27 from the field — he couldn’t have drawn this finish up any better when it came to the timing.

League sources say the NBA is expected to finally announce the MVP award on Wednesday, and it would be nothing short of a shocker if Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t the one being handed the Michael Jordan trophy (with Denver’s Nikola Jokić widely expected to finish second). But with MJ’s doppelganger, Anthony Edwards, in town, and his Timberwolves looking fully capable of winning the opener in the one-sided first half in which Gilgeous-Alexander missed 11 of his first 13 shots, that meant there was a distinct possibility that SGA might receive the league’s top individual honor just hours after getting bested — at home, no less — by one of his primary contemporaries. As optics and mood go, it doesn’t get much worse than that.

When it comes to the future-face-of-the-league conversation, there’s SGA, Edwards, Victor Wembanyama, Luka Dončić, and…that’s about it at the moment. And as the internet was quick to remind the masses once this West Finals matchup was set, Edwards told ESPN in February of 2024 that he believed he was better than Gilgeous-Alexander (and Dončić). 

No one should be surprised by that supreme confidence, of course, as the other two players likely would have said the same. And while this series isn’t going to decide a winner on that front, it is a chance for Gilgeous-Alexander to steal the ‘King Slayer’ bragging rights that have been the thrust of Adidas’ Edwards campaign.

If he leads these Thunder to the Finals, that will have meant going through Ja Morant (Memphis), Jokić (Denver) and Edwards. The Timberwolves star, meanwhile, helped eliminate the Lakers’ Dončić and LeBron James in the first round but faced a Golden State team that only had Steph Curry for less than a half in the second round because of his hamstring injury. And from the start of this young superstar showdown, the alpha-male energy that is such a prerequisite to being part of this debate was quite prevalent early on in the opener.

As Gilgeous-Alexander laid on the baseline after a foul less than four minutes in, his hands behind his head as if he was sunbathing in the Bahamas after he’d earned his sixth and seventh trips to the line, the frustrated Edwards tossed the ball his way and hit him on the right knee. The condescension from one star to another was clear.

Anthony Edwards threw the ball at SGA

He’s SICK of the foul-baiting 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/ZaEvECszZX

— BricksCenter (@BricksCenter) May 21, 2025

It wasn’t the last time Edwards would try to play bully-ball with Gilgeous-Alexander, either, as this late second-quarter sequence spoke volumes about the vastly different ways these two young stars are wired. While the 23-year-old Edwards is clearly trying to take the aggressive route, knocking SGA down and then using his legs to keep him there, Gilgeous-Alexander eventually gets up and keeps it moving as if he hadn’t just been pushed around like a little brother.

Anthony Edwards defense on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 🍿🍿 pic.twitter.com/I14XGPcTeb

— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) May 21, 2025

The steadiness, as is almost always the case, paid off before long. After his ice-cold start that was due, in large part, to Jaden McDaniels’ stout defense, Gilgeous-Alexander was spectacular in the second half (20 points, five assists, four rebounds, eight-of-14 shooting and a plus-25 rating as the Thunder dominated 70-40). And per his usual, the trips to the line (11 of 14 in all) continued throughout. Gilgeous-Alexander trailed only Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo in free throw attempts this season (10.6 to 8.8), and is averaging 9.2 in the postseason (tied for third with Dončić, behind Antetokounmpo and Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell).

Anthony Edwards gets called for his 4th foul… SGA gets free throws pic.twitter.com/gMJRm3mZ6f

— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) May 21, 2025

“He just keeps himself in it,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “He doesn’t get emotional. He just plays the next play. I thought he was really in attack mode tonight. He did a great job of pounding the paint (with) the ball. He had a good blend, especially in the second half — his early passes. But he was really driving it, and putting a lot of pressure on them, which is what you have to do against that level of pressure and physicality.”

As for Edwards, the truth about this opener was that the Timberwolves would never have been it if not for Julius Randle’s early efforts. The Timberwolves big man had 20 points in the first half, with Minnesota leading 48-44 at the break. The Thunder, with that incredible defense that seems to always find a way to solve the offensive puzzle placed before it, did just that in the second half (Randle had just eight points and five shots). Edwards, who turned his right ankle in the first quarter and headed for the locker room only to return soon thereafter, finished with 18 points (five of 13 shooting), nine rebounds, three assists and a minus-23 mark.

“I definitely got to shoot more,” Edwards said. “I only took 13 f—— shots. But I would say probably just get off the ball a little more, play without the ball. I think that will be the answer, because playing on the ball, they’re just going to double and sit in the gaps all day. So, (I’ve) got to go watch some film and pick it apart.”

But first, more than likely, he’ll be watching Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP ceremony while knowing that his proclamation hasn’t come true just yet.

(Photo of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Anthony Edwards: Alonzo Adams/Imagn Images)

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