Over the last year, the OKC Thunder have seen Shai Gilgeous-Alexander turn into a Superstar. It was not, but 14 months ago, everyone questioned whether Gilgeous-Alexander could be a number one option in the NBA.
Fast forward to the present day, the Oklahoma City Thunder had a surprise season a year ago, posting 40 wins, getting into the Play-In tournament, and falling just a game shy of the playoffs. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leaped superstardom, averaging over 30 points per game, making the first-team All-NBA, and finishing fifth in MVP voting.
Along the way, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander picked up a new shtick, an Instagram caption for each Thunder win laced in rhythms usually about the game and opponent of that night. Before this week, the largest controversy around these light-hearted captions was if the OKC Thunder star came up with them himself.
According to NBA Champion Andre Iguodala, the OKC Thunder might have woken up the Golden State Warriors.
Over the weekend, the OKC Thunder earned a baseball-style sweep over the Golden State Warriors. That two-game stretch was capped off with a thrilling overtime win after the Thunder were once down 18 points.
In that contest, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander absolutely took over, dropping 40 points. Alongside the dynamic play of rookie big man Chet Holmgren, clutch buckets from Jalen Williams, and Isaiah Joe going 7-for-7 from beyond the arc, it was an emotional win for this young Thunder team.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander new victory post on Instagram pic.twitter.com/Mt36lQNHKu
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) November 19, 2023
While Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s caption was not all that harmful, the NBA world exploded as they slid through the post to see many highlights of the OKC Thunder star getting the better of Steph Curry.
This led fans, ESPN, and your Grandma to take notice and overanalyze the same shtick Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has done for now two seasons. However, nearly a week later, NBA Finals MVP and Warriors Legend Andre Iguodala sounded off on this post.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's instagram caption after the Warriors game has been a hot topic for a week now, this time by Finals MVP Andre Iguodala on the latest episode of his podcast. pic.twitter.com/oyQ9mxna9K
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) November 22, 2023
On his podcast with Evan Turner, point forward Andre Iguodala claims that the Steph Curry lowlight-littered Instagram post could wake up the Dynastic Warriors, who are off to a slow start, similar to a season ago.
While no one should genuinely believe Shai Gilgeous-Alexander targeted the All-Time grade, it was merely a coincidence a lot of his highlights from that game came against Curry; Iguodala would know better than anyone what makes the Warriors tick.
The OKC Thunder are not scheduled to play the Golden State Warriors again this season. However, the NBA will release two more games after the dust settles on the In-Season Tournament pool play games.
The Golden State Warriors are in the running to be one of the OKC Thunder’s opponents in those two additional games in December.