Steve Kerr Had One Comical Suggestion for Slowing Down SGA During Wild 52-Point Game

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a lot easier to handle when he’s on the bench.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander goes up for a shot against Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander goes up for a shot against Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos. / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

The Golden State Warriors had their hands full with MVP front-runner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.

While the Warriors were ultimately able to pull out a 116–109 win against the best team in the Western Conference, it didn’t come easy, and SGA still did plenty of damage, going off for 52 points on 16-of-29 shooting.

Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging a league-leading 32.5 points per game, and plays maestro to one of the most high-octane offenses in all of basketball. While the Warriors got the better of them on Wednesday night, head coach Steve Kerr was quick to acknowledge the challenge that SGA presents.

“I don’t know what to do with Shai,” Kerr told reporters after the win. “I asked Mark (Daigneault) to leave him on the bench for a couple more minutes. He didn’t comply.”

After the joke, Kerry praised the likely MVP for his versatility on the court, and the number of challenges he presents to his opposition.

“It’s pick your poison with him,” Kerr said. “The good thing for us down the stretch was we had the lead, so we didn’t mind giving up the twos.”

The loss was just the ninth of the Thunder’s season. They’ll look to get back on the winning track with a matchup against the Sacramento Kings on Saturday.


More of the Latest Around the NBA


Published
Tyler Lauletta
TYLER LAULETTA

Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears.