Thunder Rising Star 'Admires' Superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

The Oklahoma City Thunder are set to take on the Denver Nuggets in their season opener on Thursday, in a game that will showcase a summer of work that the roster put in. Chet Holmgren, admires superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's ability to always come back a better player.

Apr 21, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) reacts to forward Chet Holmgren (7) blocking a shot by a New Orleans Pelicans player during the second quarter of game one of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

For the past four seasons, the NBA world has been scrambling to put a cap on OKC Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. When he was a budding All-Star that barely was snubbed for the honor three years ago, people looked around and collectively assumed getting over that All-Star hump was the best he could do.

The next year, he cracks the All-Star team and again, people believed despite his spunky top-five finish in MVP voting, that a perennial all-star is the ceiling for the Thunder guard. Afterall, he climbed his way from fun rookie role player with the Clippers, to a key young piece in Oklahoma City, to an all-star level player, that is a pretty good ascension.

Then came the 2023-24 NBA season, where Gilgeous-Alexander solidified himself as not only the face of the Oklahoma City Thunder, but one of the league's premier players finishing runner up for the Most Valuable Player award, starting the all-star game and leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

Surely, that is the last evolution for the Kentucky product, right? Well, as preseason comes to a close, we have yet again witnessed Gilgeous-Alexander add to his game, hoisting up more 3-point shots than ever and converting at a high clip.

His reworked jump shot leads people to believe his ability to play behind the arc will be hightened this season, and yet another wrinkle is added to his game. After practice on Tuesday, rising star Chet Holmgren discussed the ever improving superstar.

“Success isn't linear. There's no guarantee that if you say you want to work on something and you work on it that you're actually going to be good at it. But somehow every summer he's like, ‘I'm gonna work on this’ and he comes back and has that [expletitive] mastered.”

At times, that can get frustrating for Gilgeous-Alexander's peers as he comes back each year a better player, even when you believe he has hit his ceiling.

It’s both inspiring and frustrating. He makes it look easy," Holmgren Laughed, "[Because] it is not easy."

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