Mavs stud issues 4-word, cop out take on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic debate

When it comes to the respective styles of play of OKC Thunder centerpiece Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dallas Mavericks cornerstone Luka Doncic, it's hard to draw any concrete comparisons between the two superstars.

The former is more of an elite two-way backcourt talent with highly efficient and consistent scoring chops, while the latter is an offensive-minded microwave scorer who also presents as one of the best set-up men in the association.

Yet, despite their polar opposite styles of play, as is the case with all stars strewn across the league, the two have been regularly found being compared to one another during this rather dormant part of the offseason.

However, it's not just the league's fanbase who has been partaking in such conversations, as even players and personnel of the NBA have managed to get caught up in the deliberation.

Dereck Lively II drops cop out take on Thunder's SGA and Mavs' Doncic

Most recently, Doncic's own Mavs running mate, Dereck Lively II was asked to participate in the chatter while appearing on Nike EYBL's "Free Game," as host Theo Pinson asked the stud big who between Gilgeous-Alexander and Doncic has the deeper bag of tricks.

Unsurprisingly, Lively remained loyal to his Mavs teammate when it came to his response, though, frankly, his answer to the question was somewhat of a cop out, politician-esque statement, as he didn't really provide a straight-forward retort concerning the subject matter.

Instead, he dropped a four-word statement in reference to their 2023 second-round playoff bout, saying: "Who won that matchup?"

As both Thunder and Mavericks fans both are aware, Dallas came away from the series victorious, with Doncic and co. closing things out with a 4-2 record en route to their first NBA Finals berth since 2011.

However, while Lively's response was certainly attention grabbing, a team winning a playoff series over another is not entirely indicitive of a talent's individual play and, in turn, wasn't necessarily an answer to the question at hand.

Though Doncic may have the more exciting skill set for casual viewers, especially when it relates to his passing abilities and higher volume long-range shooting, SGA is regularly refered to as one of the most challenging matchups in the association, with perennial All-Star and All-Defensive selection, Paul George going as far as to refer to him as "a tough coverage" and noting that "he got some sh*t."

New Orleans Pelicans stud wing Trey Murphy has even gone on record to label the Thunder star as "the most difficult player to guard in the NBA," and even shed light on his sweat-enducing experience playing against him in round one of last year's playoffs.

"Game two he was probably, like, five-for-five on me. He didn't miss one [shot]. He was back peddling and going forward at the same time. They showed it on film, and I was like, 'Did y'all even just see what he did? You really think you could have guarded that?'," Murphy said.

Despite Doncic having the edge over Gilgeous-Alexander in points department last season (33.9 compared to 30.1), he did so on 165 more shot attempts in total and a whopping 475 more shots from beyond the arc.

On top of this, the Thunder star also had one of the most efficient scoring seasons in league history in 2023-24, as his points per game averages had a standard deviation of 6.75, which ranks third-best behind Ocsar Robertson's 6.71 recorded in 1963-64 and, interestingly enough, SGA's own feat in 2022-23 where his 6.68 with averages of 31.4 points a night ranks in as the best of all time.

In a nutshell, determining who between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic has the deeper bag is a much more complex situation than some may believe it to be, and, though the latter's own teammate in Lively may have been quick to come up with a comment that sounds good on the surface, simulteneously, it avoided actually providing his own two cents into the debate.