In a recent interview, Oklahoma City Thunder Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren reflected on losing to the San Antonio Spurs in last season's Western Conference Finals. While Gilgeous-Alexander addressed his free-throw merchant narrative, he also reflected on how the Thunder's title defense fell short against the Spurs.

Despite Holmgren's modest four-point performance in Game 7, Gilgeous-Alexander took the blame, saying he played poorly in six of the Thunder's best-of-seven series, per Time.

“The MVP of the league waited until Game 7 to have a good game,” he says. (While SGA’s output and efficiency did not meet his usual standard, he did shoot 50% from the field and score 30 points in OKC’s Game 2 victory over San Antonio.) “I don’t think it’s on Chet,” he says. “I carry a lot of the weight. The only way you can truly fail is if you don’t learn from the moment. I know the type of guy he is. And I know what type of worker he is. He’ll definitely do it.”

Thunder's Chet Holmgren didn't agree with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's take on taking the responsibility for having a bad series against the Spurs.

“I might disagree with him,” Holmgren replies. “Losing in a s***** fashion on the last game of the season, and f****** having that be your last game for the next three months or whatever, sucks. But he definitely checked on me. We chopped it up, trying to talk some hoops, figuring out how to use this time of the summer productively. I don’t think I’m somebody who necessarily needs to be checked in on. But it speaks to his character and his willingness and awareness to do that.”

Losing Game 7 is always a difficult pill to swallow for any NBA player, especially for a Thunder squad coming off winning its first title in franchise history in 2025. One win shy of returning to the Finals, Gilgeous-Alexander admits it was a difficult time in his life.

“It’s hard to be in that state of mind that long,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Even as a kid, I was never good when I played mad. Never, never, never, never. I just don’t think you make the best decisions.”

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Trying to stay even-keeled, Gilgeous-Alexander entered the offseason determined to get better.

“I wasn’t happy to lose,” SGA says. “But I was like, ‘OK, good, I deserved it.’ It’s my job to figure out why I didn’t deserve to win. I attack losing.”

Now, SGA says he's an even better player than he was last season. And so far, he's off to a terrific start; it's only the preseason, but he didn't miss a single shot in his 17-point debut, finishing 5-for-5 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.