INDIANAPOLIS — Throwing the ball off the backboard, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander slammed it down with one hand to highlight his monster All-Star performance.
The 25-year-old showed out in his first career All-Star start as the East beat out the West, 211-186. The slow-paced exhibit catered to his style of play.
In 27 minutes, Gilgeous-Alexander had 31 points on 12-of-16 shooting, six assists and four rebounds. He shot 7-of-10 from 3. He scored 21 points in the second half.
“It’s one of those things I expected to happen as I (became) a better basketball player,” Gilgeous-Alexander said on getting nationally more recognized. “It comes with it. It’s fun. It’s stuff I dream about… I’ve been dreaming about this moment, this point of my career, I know what comes with it.”
The efficient guard had a hot night from the outside as he took double-digit attempts — much more than his 3.3 season average. He foreshadowed the 3-point happy night by scoring the first points for the West on a catch-and-shoot opportunity.
The self-lob — which was the highlight of the night from the MVP candidate — looked eerily similar to Chet Holmgren’s version from earlier this season. Gilgeous-Alexander admitted his teammate helped inspire his attempt, jokingly saying he did it better.
“Ever since Chet did it, everyone else followed. I don’t know where that came from,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Mine was better than Chet’s though. Mine was in traffic too.”
As the entire league watched the best players perform, Gilgeous-Alexander was one of the brighter spots of the exhibition. He got to his spots with ease and scored all of his points either deep inside of the paint or from outside.
The 2024 All-Star contest itself might’ve been a heavily criticized snoozefest as neither team showed serious interest in making it competitive, but Gilgeous-Alexander looked awesome in his second All-Star appearance.
“The game was so not serious, I didn’t learn nothing, not gonna lie,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We were just running around trying to score.”
Highlights of Gilgeous-Alexander’s 31-point outing can be watched below:
Just getting started 🎯#NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/D8blMBynJS
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 19, 2024
Gettin' 2️⃣ it#NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/L9Whl45xIt
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 19, 2024
🆙🆙🆙#NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/yoTDSh3Iky
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 19, 2024
Smooth with it 🤌#NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/wfwlq676ZN
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 19, 2024
A walking 🪣
That's 15 points for Shai ⚡️#NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/V1zNctMeM1
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 19, 2024
Shooters shooooot 🎯#NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/VnbQKVhVvK
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 19, 2024
Shai off the backboard 😳😤@ChetHolmgren did you tell @shaiglalex to do this? 😂#NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/nrMkMqZLGL
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 19, 2024
The ball never touched the ground 🤷#NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/iSG0i6UYt4
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 19, 2024
Shai from the logo ⭐️#NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/UH0d4N3qTo
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 19, 2024
