"He won’t get over his average" - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's teammate gently trash talks him, claiming to be his kryptonite

Over the past three seasons, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has cemented himself as one of the top scorers in the NBA. While opposing defenses have no answers for the star guard, one person close to him feels he has the answers to slowing him down.

Coming off a season where he finished runner-up for MVP, the OKC Thunder star has managed to elevate his game even more. Along with leading his team to one of the NBA's best records, he is posting averages of 32.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists.

As things currently stand, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is on pace to join the exclusive group of players to average 30 or more points for three straight seasons. During a recent interview with The Athletic, Thunder guard Lu Dort claims he's capable of locking down his superstar teammate. That said, he refuses to dive into how to maintain SGA on the offensive end.

“I can’t go into details like that,” Dort said. “I don’t know who’s gonna read this. … But yeah, he won’t get over his average (against me). I mean that, for real.”

Between their time on the Thunder and Canada's national team, Dort is someone who knows SGA's game very well. On top of that, the former undrafted guard has developed into one of the best perimeter defenders in the league. As the regular season comes to a close, Dort is potentially on his way to the first All-Defense nomination of his career.

---

OKC Thunder coach compares Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to fellow NBA superstars

Since taking over as head coach of the Thunder in 2020, Mark Daigneault has had an up-close view of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's rise to superstardom. Amid another MVP-level season, he compared the star guard's game to some of the NBA's other top stars.

As a 6-foot-6 guard with length, SGA is extremely versatile when it comes to his offensive arsenal. That said, the thing that makes him so hard guard is he's consistently able to get to his spots on the floor. This is the one aspect of SGA's skill set that Daigneault is most blown away by.

When discussing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his offensive attack, Daigneault brought up his ability to get wherever he wanted on the floor. However, he's most blown away by how he does it. Guys like LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo do it with power and someone like Ja Morant does it with speed. In SGA's case, he uses finesse to make up for not being an other-worldly athlete.

“It’s like LeBron (James) in his prime, Giannis (Antetokounmpo), the speed of (Ja) Morant, the speed and power of (Russell) Westbrook; he’s a great athlete, but he’s not an overpowering athlete, where those guys are,” Daigneault said. “And yet, he gets to the same places on the floor as they do. And to me, that says it all about the skill.”

Now in the prime of his career, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is ready to stamp himself as one of the top stars of his generation.