Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's trainer reflected on how the two-time MVP reacted to seeing the New York Knicks defeat the San Antonio Spurs, 4-1, in the NBA Finals. Gilgeous-Alexander took on most of the blame for the Thunder's 4-3 loss to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. He spent the offseason improving his game and working with his trainer.
However, Gilgeous-Alexander couldn't stand to watch the Knicks win the 2026 Finals, according to his trainer Nem Ilic, per Rg.org.
“‘I'm pissed. I can't believe I'm not here right now,'” Ilic said. We were on vacation right around when Games 1 and 2 started. We watched that together. But I didn't get that same vibe until the series was actually over. Then it hit him that they lost and New York won the championship. Shai is not a guy to make excuses. It didn't work out the way he hoped. But that's part of an NBA season. But you have to be able to deal with those punches, and he didn't. So he knew that he had to get back to the drawing board and get better again.”
Despite the narrative around Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander foul-baiting tactics, the two-time MVP spent the offseason focusing on playing off the ball more to improve conditioning and maximize SGA's offense.
“I think just with the playoff time and watching, that was a different scenario. They had lost two of their other primary ball handlers in J-Dub and Ajay [Mitchell],” Ilic said. “So I just felt like the way that series had gone, it was about being able to have that little extra in the tank to withstand that. Plus, I know it's been a topic with Shai wanting to come off the ball a little bit more this season as well. So there's a conditioning aspect of him coming off pin-downs, screens or whatever else it is.
Article Continues Below“We didn't want that to be a factor, conditioning-wise. So we wanted to work on that a little bit. It wasn't anything crazy. We'll see how that goes this year. Then we'll adjust next summer as well.”
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 17 points on 5-for-5 attempts, five assists, three rebounds, and one block in 17 minutes in his preseason debut on Wednesday.