The role Allen Iverson played in Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's rise to MVP
03/31/2025 03:54 PM
Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's father, Vaughn Alexander, revealed how Hall of Fame guard Allen Iverson profoundly influenced his son's game and overall appearance. Before the proud father shared his take on why Gilgeous-Alexander should win MVP over Nuggets' Nikola Jokic, he discussed how Iverson made an overwhelming impression on Shai.
Michael Jordan is Alexander's all-time favorite. However, according to Vaughn, who recently appeared on the Gil's Arena podcast, it's Iverson for Gilgeous-Alexander.
"Jordan's the best that ever played, Iverson's my guy. That's just my opinion," Alexander said. "Everyone can have their guy. But with Shai, it's Kobe and then Iverson for him. He doesn't put Jordan up there."
For Gilgeous-Alexander, Iverson was the player he gravitated towards more than anyone.
"It's a new generation, right? He didn't really get to watch him as much. [He] saw Kobe. [He] saw Iverson. Iverson was his main guy," Alexander said. "No disrespect to Vince [Carter], but when Vince was in Toronto, I'm from Toronto, right? When Vince was in Toronto in 01, they went to Game 7 or Game 6, and Vince missed that jumpshot. We were in the stands with Iverson jerseys on all through that."
Even as a toddler, Gilgeous-Alexander watched Allen Iverson more than anyone.
"Shai was about two and a half, and we were all there in Iverson jerseys," Alexander added. "I remember walking up with Shai, and Raptor fans were like "what the f***? You couldn't put on a Vince jersey?" Man, f*** Vince. Iverson all day. Back then? Iverson all day. So you kind of see what Shai's taken. All the cornrows, the flex, the swag. You know what I mean? And then, get to the lane and talk about free-throw merchant; we'll touch on that.
"But get to the lane like Iverson. We'll shoot some threes, but we're not going to shoot a bag of threes right now. We're going to do it through the hard way," Alexander concluded.
SGA's dad's NSFW take on Thunder star's MVP race vs. Nikola Jokic
Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's father has the utmost respect for defending MVP Nikola Jokic. Still, he's picking Gilgeous-Alexander over Jokic for this year's award.
"If he wasn't my son, I'd be like yo, this is the MVP, bro," Alexander said. "And I rate what Jokic is doing. What Jokic is doing is crazy. Let's keep it real. I don't even want to say this on air, but if he [Gilgeous-Alexander] wasn't to win it, I wouldn't be like he got subbed because what he's doing is stupid. It really is. Let's just keep it real. But having said all that, f*** that. Shai's the MVP."
The Thunder will host the Bulls on Monday.
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