The foul-baiter accusations directed at OKC Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have seemingly reached new heights here in 2025-26, especially over these last few months, with coaches and players alike starting to publicly vocalize their opinions on the matter.
Frankly, regardless of where one stands with their stance on SGA's ability to draw a foul, the fact of the matter is that a significant number of the game's all-time great offensive weapons have had an uncanny knack for either sounding favorable or overall avoiding whistles.
Whether it's Rockets-era James Harden (peaked at 11.8 attempts per game) or the Wonder Boy himself, Luka Doncic (currently leads the league with 10.1 attempts), many of the most legendary scorers in league history have leaned into their innate skill to catch the attention of officials.
Heck, even the late, great Kobe Bryant admitted to literally reading the referee's official handbook to, as he put it, learn the best ways to "get away with a foul."
While it's undeniable that Gilgeous-Alexander has a similar understanding of how to position himself for beneficial officiating as these aforementioned greats, the idea that his antics somehow warrant the kind of degradation of his game he's received is truly egregious.
Thunder star's foul line trips far from a league anomaly
Even compared to this year's crop of ballers, the Thunder star's activity at the free throw line by no means resides in a league of its own.
As things currently stand, Gilgeous-Alexander ranks third in the association in free throws taken per game with 9.4, just .2 more than Washington's Deni Avdija, someone who receives little to no criticism for his frequency of visiting the charity stripe.
Perhaps the most important factoid that should lessen the perceived severity of his rate of free-throw attempts is the fact that even if one were to take away all of his 530 makes from the line, SGA would still rank as a top-20 scorer in the game this season, with his 1,494 points impressively slotting in right ahead of his direct threat to the MVP award, Victor Wembanyama's 1,468.
Spending time on this incredibly inflated issue simply takes attention away from the truly mesmerizing campaign the All-Star is having, one where he's on pace to finish with the most efficient 30.0 point-per-game season in history, is closing in on arguably the most clutch campaign the NBA has seen, and where he may become the 15 back-to-back MVP.
Getting worked up over his non-anomalous free throw visits won't change this.