Sports

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is sneakily becoming an all-time NBA scorer

Published

1 year ago

December 5, 2024

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is sneakily becoming an all-time NBA scorer

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander puts a lot of effort into his appearance. Fashion is a clear passion. His postgame news conferences double as video shorts for Harper’s Bazaar.

I am impressed by a player who can pull off something shimmery or wear fur up to his chin while sporting a do-rag and dark sunglasses. Far be it for me to pose as a fashion critic. This is not an assessment of whether he pulls it off, though I’d say he absolutely does. I dress like a journalist styled by deadlines concerned only with a nice pair of sneakers and something that disguises the coffee I’m sure to spill on my hoodie. My fashion critiques are useless.

But the SGA off the court and the version of him in the Oklahoma City Thunder uniform represent a striking juxtaposition. The former tries really hard to be stunning. The latter makes it look so effortless.

Gilgeous-Alexander is not just an elite scorer; he’s so, so smooth with it. Watching him get buckets is almost therapeutic. Right before our eyes, he’s blossomed into a historic scoring machine. His handle is silkier than one of his half-buttoned shirts. He doesn’t wow you with dribble moves, but he handles the rock so fluidly. His moves and counters. The improvisational way he manipulates leverage and shifts into spaces. And it’s all punctuated with a midrange jumper that ol’ heads would call butter.

SGA is one to watch as the NBA Cup transitions to the quarterfinals. One of the benefits of this in-season tournament — and the hype surrounding it — is gems like Gilgeous-Alexander get to shine. In a league that loves showcasing its prolific offensive players, he is unique among the game’s best.

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A big game from Giannis Antetokounmpo is like a muscle car with Flowmasters roaring through a school zone. Nothing about Jayson Tatum’s scoring looks easy.

Ever see Luka Dončić go off? It’s spectacular. But he makes it look so laborious. You need a cigarette and a cold one afterward just from watching.

Anthony Edwards is simply exciting. He’s all flair. As is Nikola Jokić. Even though Joker is smooth in his own right, it just has the subtlety of an elephant C-walking to “Not Like Us.” His version of smoothness is seizing.

SGA sneaks up on you. He just goes to work, and you look up and he’s got 30 again. Like he rolls out of bed to 20 points.

He’s the new Kevin Durant in that sense. You know how KD makes putting the ball in the basket feel like breathing? How it feels so automatic as to be inevitable? SGA is of that ilk. Smooth for no reason. He scores like cats walk. Like Les Twins dance. Like Penelope Cruz says “Nespresso.”

Gilgeous-Alexander already is on pace for a third season averaging 30 points per game or more. If he does, he’d be one of 16 players in NBA history to average 30 or more three times. (Giannis also is on pace for his third such season.) Only 23 players have multiple seasons averaging 30-plus.

Even SGA’s free-throw grifting is slick. He’s fourth in attempts this season, behind Giannis, Anthony Davis and James Harden.

SGA often looks unstoppable. Yet, his career-high is only 45. This is his seventh season, and he’s scored 40 or more only 14 times.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is on pace for a third season averaging at least 30 points per game. (Troy Taormina / Imagn Images)

His modus operandi isn’t especially explosive. He doesn’t often get hot and go wild. He’s not one for superb peaks and periodic valleys.

Gilgeous-Alexander is just at the same level. Perennially. Humbly, even. Cooking defenses like it’s a 9-to-5. Over the last two-plus seasons, totaling 164 games, he has just 10 games where he’s failed to score 20.

Not too high. Not too low. Just in the same groove. Unimpeded by smaller defenders or bigger ones, quicker ones or stronger ones. At 6-foot-6, he has just enough athleticism and strength and leaping ability to counter just about any defense.

If SGA continues at this current pace, he will be the 10th player to average 30 in three straight seasons. The other nine: Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor, Adrian Dantley, Bob McAdoo, James Harden and Joel Embiid. Yes, Gilgeous-Alexander is already among the upper echelon of bucket-getters.

Durant has only averaged 30 twice. Same for Stephen Curry, Rick Barry and George Gervin, among others.

What’s even rarer about SGA is his road to success. He’s become this unstoppable scorer despite not entering the NBA as such. He averaged 14.4 points his one season at Kentucky and was drafted two picks after college teammate Kevin Knox.

Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 10.8 points as a rookie despite 73 starts. That puts him in another rare group along with Giannis, Kobe Bryant and Harden. They are the four players in NBA history who have averaged 30 points in a season after averaging fewer than 11 points as a rookie.

Most of the NBA’s great single-season scorers came into the league getting buckets. Of the 37 players all-time who have averaged 30 points in a season, 16 of them averaged at least 20 points as rookies. Another nine averaged at least 15.

Most of the bunch were scorers from the beginning of their careers, better than two-thirds. They announced themselves early. You knew what they were in the league to do.

SGA kinda sneaked up on us. Slithered into rarified air. Most had never heard of him until he was the key piece in a massive deal for Paul George. Now at 26, he’s already a more accomplished offensive weapon than PG.

And SGA’s 3-ball isn’t refined yet. He shot 40.4 percent in college but is hitting just 34.8 percent over his pro career. He’s got the form and the touch. It figures to get to where he’s knocking down the 3 at a higher clip.

Could he be the next 30,000-point scorer? He’ll pass 10,000 this season. He could be at 20,000 by year No. 12. The pace tracks.

Sure, Gilgeous-Alexander defends and passes, and he is growing as a leader. But, man, just watch him work on offense. With the ball in his hands, anywhere near the free-throw line and the defender at his mercy, peep the rhythm of his flow. The simplicity of his jumper. The reliability of its conversion. The matter-of-factness in his demeanor. The fashion in which he dominates.

The fur coat and do-rag are but accessories.

(Top photo: Joshua Gateley / Getty Images)

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Sports

Illinois knocks off Iowa to reach Final Four after buzzer malfunction delay

Published

53 minutes ago

March 29, 2026

Press Room

Illinois knocks off Iowa to reach Final Four after buzzer malfunction delay

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For the first time in more than two decades, the Illinois men’s basketball team will still be dancing when the Final Four tips off.

Iowa’s underdog run in the NCAA Tournament ended Saturday with a 71-59 loss to a dominant Illinois team. Before Illinois could cut down the nets at Houston’s Toyota Center, a buzzer malfunction caused a loud, roughly 10-minute delay.

The buzzer initially sounded signaling the end of a media timeout with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half. The horn continued blaring for about another seven minutes.

A referee talks with the scorer’s table during an official’s timeout due to a broken shot clock horn during the first half of an Elite Eight game between Iowa and Illinois in the NCAA Tournament Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Houston, Texas. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Players stood on the court ready to play for a couple of minutes before both teams started to warm up as the buzzer continued to sound.

It was finally silenced, to cheers from the crowd, but then the main scoreboard and video screen that hangs over the middle of the court went dark.

The game ultimately resumed with the big scoreboard still off. Two smaller scoreboards at each end of the arena were working.

Freshman guard Keaton Wagler scored 25 points to help secure Illinois’ first Final Four berth since 2005.

Keaton Wagler (23) of the Illinois Fighting Illini dribbles against Isaia Howard (23) of the Iowa Hawkeyes during the first half in the Elite Eight of the 2026 NCAA Tournament at Toyota Center March 28, 2026, in Houston, Texas. (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

This will be the sixth overall trip to the Final Four for Illinois, which has never won a national title. The Fighting Illini will face either Duke or UConn next week in Indianapolis.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Chantz Martin is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.

Sports

High school baseball and softball: Saturday’s scores

Published

2 hours ago

March 29, 2026

Press Room

BASEBALL

CITY SECTION

Palisades 2, North Hollywood 1

South Gate 5, Sun Valley Poly 4

SOUTHERN SECTION

Alta Loma 5, Schurr 3

Anaheim Canyon 6, Segerstrom 4

Beaumont 13, San Jacinto Valley Academy 3

Bethel Christian 15, United Christian Academy 1

Brea Olinda 8, Tustin 2

Buena Park 5, Savanna 3

Cajon 9, Granite Hills 5

Claremont 13, Littlerock 2

Compton 12, Compton Centennial 3

Covina 9, San Marino 6

El Segundo 13, Palos Verdes 4

Ganesha 13, Santa Ana Foothill 3

Golden Valley 9, Lancaster 8

Hesperia 8, Miller 7

Katella 6, Canyon Springs 3

La Serna 5, Alhambra 2

Linfield Christian 10, Woodbridge 0

Long Beach Cabrillo 17, Hawthorne 1

Montclair 2, Vista del Lago 0

Moorpark 16, Foothill Tech 11

Oxford Academy 7, Century 6

Rancho Mirage 1, Indian Springs 0

Rancho Verde 9, Riverside Poly 5

San Dimas 13, Irvine 2

Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 14, HMSA 11

Sonora 7, Long Beach Wilson 6

St. Paul 5, El Modena 3

Troy 5, Hacienda Heights Wilson 2

Valley View 16, Carter 10

Whittier Christian 9, Estancia 3

INTERSECTIONAL

Dominguez 13, King/Drew 2

Downers Grove 11, Santa Ana Calvary Chapel

Downtown Magnets 12, Long Beach Jordan 5

Inglewood 10, Stella 0

Layton 5, Schurr 4

Kentucky Trinity 5, St. John Bosco 0

Murrieta Valley 10, Galena 7

Orange Lutheran 7, Florida Venice 6

Santa Barbara 14, Douglas 6

Santa Monica Pacifica Christian 16, Collins Family 1

St. Bernard 7, San Diego University City 5

Tonopah 23, Lone Pine 8

SOFTBALL

CITY SECTION

San Fernando 5, LA Roosevelt 3

San Pedro 11, Legacy 1

Sun Valley Poly 8, LA Roosevelt 2

SOUTHERN SECTION

Alemany 9, Canyon Country Canyon 1

Burbank Burroughs 2, Rosary Academy 1

California 16, Whittier Christian 13

California 7, San Clemente 1

Camarillo 4, Chaminade 3

Camarillo 18, Rio Mesa 0

Capistrano Valley 9, Beckman 3

Chino Hills 15, Chino 3

Corona 10, Ridgecrest Burroughs 0

Crean Lutheran 11, Avalon 2

Crean Lutheran 13, Avalon 2

Edison 7, Crescenta Valley 5

Edison 2, Vasquez 1

Irvine 7, Long Beach Wilson 5

JSerra 2, Capistrano Valley 1

Leuzinger 11, Hawthorne 0

Marina 2, Los Alamitos 1

Mater Dei 10, Redondo Union 0

Mira Costa 9, Newport Harbor 3

Palos Verdes 2, Los Altos 1

Paraclete 11, Saugus 1

Rancho Mirage 14, Cathedral City 6

Rosary Academy 7, Fountain Valley 2

San Clemente 7, Whittier Christian 2

Simi Valley 7, West Ranch 1

Simi Valley 5, St. Bonaventure 5

St. Genevieve 7, Sacred Heart of Jesus 4

St. Paul 6, Warren 2

St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy d. Hoover, forfeit

Thousand Oaks 8, Rio Mesa 0

United Christian Academy 13, Bethel Christian 5

Vasquez 4, Woodbridge 0

Warren 5, La Serna 0

Westlake 4, St. Bonaventure 2

Westlake 0, Chaminade 0

Westlake 4, St. Bonaventure 2

West Ranch 10, Thousand Oaks 4

West Torrance 6, Hart 0

INTERSECTIONAL

Alemany 11, Arleta 1

Arleta 10, Canyon Country Canyon 8

Downey 6, Legacy 0

Downey 10, San Pedro 0

Granada Hills 8, La Serna 5

Muir 8, San Fernando 4

Muir 12, Sun Valley Poly 3

San Luis Obispo 7, Torres 6

St. Paul 8, Granada Hills 4

Sports

‘Quad God’ Ilia Malinin avenges Olympic disappointment with backflip for third straight world title

Published

13 hours ago

March 28, 2026

Press Room

‘Quad God’ Ilia Malinin avenges Olympic disappointment with backflip for third straight world title

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It seems like Ilia Malinin, the “Quad God,” has done a nice job of moving on from his Olympic heartbreak.

Last month, the 21-year-old Team USA star was the overwhelming favorite to bring home the gold in the men’s free skate. But the unimaginable happened as he fell twice and dropped all the way to eighth place.

However, he has begun to avenge the loss and is now a three-time world champion.

Ilia Malinin from the United States competes during the men free skating at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Malinin shouted and punched the air with relief after finishing a skate that showed he had achieved his desire to “move on” from the Olympics after days of being tormented by his mistakes.

Malinin scored 218.11 in the free skate for a total of 329.40, far ahead of silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan on 306.67. Another Japanese skater, Shun Sato, was third on 288.54.

Malinin was blunt about his Olympic performance when speaking to NBC afterward, saying simply, “I blew it,” and said it was a clear mental hurdle from start to finish.

“I just had so many thoughts and memories flood right before I got into my starting pose, and almost, I think, it maybe overwhelmed me a little bit. I’ve been through a lot in my life, a lot of bad and good experiences,” Malinin told reporters.

Gold medalist Ilia Malinin from the United States waves to spectators after the medal ceremony after the men’s free skating at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

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“So, I just feel like it’s the pressure of especially being that Olympic gold medal hopeful. It was just something I can’t control now. The pressure of the Olympics, it’s really something different, and I think not a lot of people understand that. They only understand that from the inside and going into this competition, especially today, I felt really confident, really good,” he added. “But it really just went by so fast I did not have time to process.”

But with some pressure off, Malinin was able to show who he truly is on the ice.

Gold medalist, Ilia Malinin from the United States waves before the medal ceremony after the men’s free skating at the Figure Skating World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Malinin becomes the first skater to win three consecutive men’s world titles since fellow American Nathan Chen, who achieved the feat in 2018, 2019 and 2021 after the 2020 event was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fox News’ Jackson Thompson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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