Thunder’s Alex Caruso thinks SGA could get even friendlier whistle – These stats prove his point

On Monday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder will look to become the first team in nine years to sweep their way to the conference finals as they take the floor for Game 4 against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Thunder are up 3-0 against Los Angeles, and swept the Phoenix Suns in the first round.

Although the Thunder have clearly been the superior team, Lakers fans and players alike have attempted to generate a discourse about Oklahoma City’s perceived favor with the referees, with most of the criticism being aimed at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has been accused of flopping for calls on more than one occasion.

However, recently, an unearthed stat from Tim MacMahon and Anthony Slater of ESPN has actually proven the opposite to be true, as SGA’s 9.0 free throw attempts per game rank 32nd among 48 seasons in which guards have scored at least 30 points per game while playing enough contests to qualify for the scoring title.

“Yeah, it could be better,” Thunder guard Alex Caruso said. “It’s crazy.”

Caruso also spoke on why he thinks the officiating narrative has surrounded Gilgeous-Alexander and the team.

“Every great player always has somebody or something that people try to tear him down for. When you look at it in a very binary way, it’s easy to not care about because it’s just like the day and age we live in. It’s the media, social media where there’s always something,” he said.

Indeed, the “build you up just to tear you down” mantra might not be truer in any field than it is in the NBA, where fans routinely look for ways to diminish the greatness of elite teams and players instead of celebrating it.

For his part, SGA’s focus seems to be solely on getting the Thunder back to the conference finals, which he can do with a win on Monday.

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