OKC Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may be viewed as the poster child for selling calls for his own benefit, but the fact of the matter is, all players across the league do it.
And while there's a large swath of Oklahoma City haters out there that have optionally turned a blind eye to this very real phenomenon, perhaps Spurs guard Stephon Castle's latest remarks on the matter will make them realize that the two-time MVP is far from a lone actor in this department.
During a recent pre-NBA Finals presser, the sophomore guard was asked whether he and his teammates try to avoid embellishing contact for the sake of playing "ethical hoops."
In response, Castle seemed visibly thrown off by the question, saying, "I don't even know how to answer that," only to then publicly acknowledge the fact that "I sell calls too."
Stephon Castle proves Thunder superstar is far from an anomaly
Castle would go on to note that, while many players, including himself, "talk to the refs a lot" when a whistle does not go their way, at the end of the day, he believes that "most of the time they're right."
Now just imagine if Gilgeous-Alexander were to have said such a thing.
A few months back, the Thunder superstar told reporters, "I can’t control how the refs blow the whistle ever," a take he was absolutely flamed for by keyboard warriors.
However, this sentiment clearly rings true for guys who are even labeled as ethical hoopers like Castle, as he suggested that the way an officiating team calls a game is "not really something you can change."
Frankly, though Gilgeous-Alexander may be a frequent resident at the charity stripe, finishing fourth in free-throw attempts per game this season with 9.0, it's more than absurd for people to claim his means of getting there are unethical.
If anything, Hall of Famer Chris Webber believes that, if anyone deserves criticism for his favorable whistles from the referees, it's the "guard that's defending him," as he's publicly imploring opposing players not to "even make it a chance for the ref" to call it and to "stay on your feet and make him earn it."
Even without his free-throw trips, the Thunder guard is still unequivocally one of the best scoring weapons the game currently has to offer, as he averaged 23.2 points per game this season without them, which would still have him ranked in the top 25, while shooting at a ridiculous 55.3 percent clip.
It's his elite bucket-getting abilities that keep defenses in an all-out panic, not anything unethical or out of the ordinary, that helps the most when it comes to his enviable free-throw activity.
When will people finally accept this far from outlandish truth?
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