OKC Thunder win first title — Is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander now the face of the NBA? | SPEAK

OKC Thunder win first title — Is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander now the face of the NBA? | SPEAK

who else would I look to unless you’re going to say there is no face of the league that we’re just faceless right now
no the league face of the league is still LeBron
lebron James walked out his phone is a phone break we’re going to talk about it tomorrow
he is the face of the NBA
no he’s not
lebron James was in a restaurant the restaurant everybody in restaurant going to stop
that doesn’t reflect that they If Michael Jordan did it they they do the same thing that’s right that doesn’t mean that Michael Jordan is the face of the NBA
yes it does
so Paul what does the Thunder’s first title say about the landscape of the NBA
well what the first title says to me about the NBA landscape it tells me that the parody is finally here it tells me that you have seven champions in seven seasons I can’t remember off the top of my head when the last time that’s happened because I know every champion from 1977 till today uh you know you had the the Lakers dynasty obviously in the 80s the Bulls in the 90s the Spurs throughout the whole 2000s then you had another Lakers dynasty i can’t remember the last time you had seven champion seven champions in seven season and this was what Adam Silver has always wanted with the new collective bargaining agreement they put in not too long ago uh I’m not saying that the er era of dynasties is over because I feel like in every era there’s been a dynasty and maybe some come a bit longer than the other ones because the the the Lakers 2000 dynasty in between that dynasty you didn’t have one until the Golden State Warriors or no the yeah the Golden State Warriors and that might have spanned across like
over 10 years before the next dynasty so there will be another dynasty i just don’t know who and it could be OKC but I love that they’re just so much just I don’t know who’s going to win next year because
you can easily say “Okay okay see but we saw the same thing with the Celtics this year.” I I love what’s I love what the NBA has done with the parody and the way you the players move around now and it’s great for all small market teams and then that’s what’s uh been good for for the NBA small market teams winning yeah it says to me we’ve discovered a new way of playing and we have introduced a new wave of stars to the NBA uh the depth and versatility with which the Oklahoma City Thunder played as well as the Indiana Pacers suggests that there’s a new formula that that the riding stars getting getting two or three big stars and them being the central point to your team that’s not how this worked and I actually have a have a full screen here of the minutes played i I felt like something was has has shifted and for me it’s the fact that Shay Gilles Alexander and Jaylen Williams as the number one and number two players on this team played the fewest minutes that uh that any two top two players on any of the last five championship teams have played shay Gilis Alexander played the most minutes he played fewer minutes than the second most used player in on any of the previous championship teams it gives you a sense of if you’re going to stay healthy if you’re going to play at the pace that the game is now played that you have to be able to play nine 10 people and you have to be able to put out a second team out there that can function uh on its own and I think that we we saw that that there was whether it was Alex Caruso or it was TJ uh McConnell like the the the second units need to be able to perform at a fairly high level if you’re going to hope to compete for a title so the to me that’s that’s what we’ve seen is that we’re we’re really we’re turning a page when it comes to the NBA
yeah it it’s really like Paul was saying about the parody right in the NBA as right now cuz what do we have over the last five champions and I and I don’t know how we judge small market what does that mean is it the television what what is it is it just the city because
well small market is the size of the city which is also reflected in the television market yeah yeah they go hand in hand
no because even when I won the Super Bowl they could they considered Tampa Bay a small market but from a television standpoint we were the seven rated city in terms of television so that’s why I’m like I don’t know what that means but beside the point that I think you know when you look at the parody in the NBA where you now have Denver that just won recently Milwaukee before that and you start looking at now where OKC is at you have to think from a long-term standpoint they’re in really good shape because of the youth because they’re young they’re not going to be moving on from players anytime soon they’re going to continue to just kind of grow together well now you say to yourself this will be probably the first team that has a real opportunity to become like Paul was saying a dynasty whether it wins you know next year don’t win then win the following year or win three NBA titles in the next five years that’s that’s the way this organization and team is looking right now with all the assets that they have from a draft pick standpoint and this may honestly be the first small market team when it comes free agency that somebody would want to look at because of the youth on the team and say I want to join that team i want to go to this market even though Paul says there’s nothing to do there
i mean I never left the hotel so Paul So Paul would you consider looking at this at this Oklahoma City team uh-huh
would you be able to get over the fact that there’s nothing to do there and say “I’d want to play for that team if you were a free agent.” Yeah I mean I look at the culture i see who’s on the team uh you know like I think it depends on like where you at in your career like if I’m trying to prove myself still and make a name probably not if I’m a a OG veteran and you know I got kids and stuff like that and I’m like “All right I can come settle i’m settled.” It makes more sense but the one formula that hasn’t changed
would you go if you chasing the ring though
if I’m chasing the ring like what i’m in my what 16th year and I ain’t won one yet
i mean if you’re in your 16th year well well you probably go be at the back of the bench
yeah yeah but the but the listen but this is the one thing too i was just thinking about this the one formula hasn’t changed or the champion even though there’s seven different champions every champion has featured a top five player so if you don’t have a top five player you can’t win a title yeah i mean that’s why I don’t think it says anything to me i mean they were one of the teams favored to win at the beginning of the season we even picked Shay to win the MVP he was one of the favorites to win the MVP before the season they had the best regular season record going into the playoffs i I mean they’re a young team with the league MVP on it that then went on to win Western Conference Finals MVP they had the regular season scoring title and one finals MVP it’s actually makes perfect sense that Oklahoma City won and they while they are a young team and are a deep team I think we can look back at other organizations who have won championships over the years who maybe were not as young as Oklahoma City but certainly were deep and well coached and had a good culture but I think that that’s where I think that’s where the shift is is that experience playoff experience and veterans that have been there before have always been part of the formula on some level i mean with the Boston Celtics even you go get a Drew Holiday who’s been there right uh they didn’t really have that i mean Alex Caruso sure he won a ring in the bubble i don’t know if that really applies that’s the main ingredient
i’m not I’m not dismissing that
that’s the ruin gumbo the top five player
yeah and when I look back when I look back at just over the over the the last seven years I mean it’s been seven years so you know what I mean like it was six years before that that’s still a significant amount of time for there to be a different winner every single year sure so the youth to me is is is an interesting element of this to me it would have been meant much more if the Pacers would have end up ended up winning because they wouldn’t have had a top five player that’s why it would have shook the NBA yeah their leader was not an allstar this year like that to me would have been a much more impactful uh shifting when it comes to the impact that this this title had on the NBA the youth to me is the only thing that sticks out to them like the Thunder and this is no shade to the Thunder
it makes sense that the Thunder won the Thunder were favored the Thunder had a had a really good run they had a great regular season they had the regular season MVP they have a really deep team like it makes sense they won that makes sense that’s what that’s what those teams are supposed to do
but I do think you’re going to see teams look and this always happens it’s a copycat league anytime somebody wins the championship people are going to look at how they were built what they’re made of what their what their formula was for winning and they copy that and I think that you’re going to see teams spreading the wealth and looking to build teams that aren’t necessarily topheavy yes they were fortunate enough to have SGA but they’re not really paying SGA top dollar they’re not paying Jaylen Williams top dollar like they’re able to spend money to go get a Isaiah Hartenstein and that depth and versatility to me is is a little bit different than in the previous years where it was like you had your five you had like a sevenman rotation this really was about nine 10 guys contributing
i see that as a different thing it don’t it don’t I don’t think you need nine or 10 guys though just because this is what this final show that’s with this final show
you know what I’m saying last year you had the Boston Celtics which were probably like seven deep
like legitimately
they were pretty close
like seven deep they weren’t eight or nine deep because when I when I look at eight or nine deep you got four guys on the bench that could possibly be starters that are legit starters that’s when you really a deep team you know what I’m saying so I still think the formula is a top five player and getting the necessary pieces around that top five player cuz look at the seven champions and I don’t have them all around in front of me right now but each one of them has featured a top five player shay MVP was was uh
Tatum Tatum was he a top first team all NBA joker Steph at the time in 2022 giannis LeBron in 2020
Kawhai
Kawhai like you have to have that one player once you have that player everything else can fall into play whether you have nine deep seven deep you that’s the one ingredient
and you have to have that player that can
if he’s not that already maybe that’s somebody that’s turns into that like Shay did yeah it it’s your formula sounds pretty legit I would say you know may maybe that in an allstar in a potential allar
well the depth the depth will be important because you’re not building these quote unquote super teams anymore where I will say I don’t know how copycat ready the Oklahoma City Thunder are to the rest of the league is you got to have an excellent GM
for sure you have to develop players very well for sure you have to play the long game and not every organization is that patient that’s also true not only not every organization is that talented at the executive level and we don’t like to talk about that because there’s nothing that is sexy about that but those those suits matter and when you’re looking at organizations that are habitually good and who have those kind of meteoric rises they tend to have people that know what they’re doing in the front office who can identify players that other people have either overlooked or that they are specifically targeting to fit what it is that they do based off of the system that they run and the players that they have at the top level
yeah it also helps when you’re in Oklahoma City you don’t you you’re not under the same microscope as New York or LA where the expectations from the fans are
are are we good enough or do we have the stars do we have like all the things that you need to sell you can you can bake it a little slower in in Oklahoma
but see I don’t think but I but I don’t think that that really matter now that I’m thinking about what Paul is saying I don’t really think it matters that you’re in Oklahoma City versus New York if New York had a top five player
well we’re talking about the We’re talking about the developers and the roster
yeah I guess yeah that makes you right then that that will make you right
thank you oh they had no choice what else did they have i was going to say yeah and you you have no choice but to say that
no but again it goes back to it goes back to do I want to in free agency go play for OKC or in a trade do I want to go play for them
they lucked up and got Shay no lucked up they got Shay cuz the Clippers was stupid
i’m not saying locked up
but that that was the Clippers didn’t the Clippers didn’t see what they had
so that’s you know
Shay wasn’t projected to be this
no
so they lucked up they just lucked up and got this
because if Shay was a free agent he wasn’t going over
yeah but that’s I don’t I just don’t like the word luck because they got him but also
another word you’re smart
you Well they have a great GM over there they have a great GM and they developed him
i understand but they saw where the other organization
right but even seeing that a player has the ability to develop into this is a skill and like those those GMs are not you know they’re not just out here
so they deserve the credit to build a team like this like that’s hard to do it’s something that the Celtics do very well something that the Heat do well it’s something that Golden State doesn’t get credit for but they do very well
yeah but it’s it it even though he was with the Clippers for what two seasons or whatever the case is it just feels like he’s OKC he’s homegrown just like all the rest of those guys
no they developed him they developed but and they brought in Chris Paul to help that development i mean they did so many things right
and then right and building a team around him and that’s where I would like Yes he’s the MVP and
deserves all the flowers that he gets um but he’s still so brand new to this the idea that like I I you know I think of some of the other star players even like a Nicolola Joic like he had already grown into being a great player we’re seeing it feels like Shay while being NBA first team for the third year in a row really took a huge step this year went from being a guy leading a team to the second round to being league MVP and winning a championship
but how is that any different than Joker that’s a huge jump because Joker because Joker was already an MVP prior to winning a championship yeah but Joker grew into Joker he wasn’t That’s what I said how is it any different
the same with Giannis it’s the same with Shane how they became who they were it’s about draft right now it’s about drafting well
but there wasn’t there wasn’t this oneear leap with
for Joker for Joker it was a one year he’s just like I was like he’s that good then all of a sudden he’s the best player in the league like that it was like that for me and Joker same thing with Giannis i was like cuz when I was in the league when I was playing against Giannis and just to see him grow I was like he didn’t got stronger f jumping hard now this dude right here
well they’re coming into the league extremely young like their bodies are legitimately changing but they’re all I’m just trying to think giannis
giannis was was
No when When did you play against Giannis
when I was in the uh I remember my first memory when I was in Washington he was in the
Yeah so long ago so Rick has Sheay become the face of the league
i’d say he has by default simply because I look at where we are right now and the year that he had who else would I look to unless you’re going to say there is no face of the league that we’re just faceless right now
no the league face of the league is still LeBron
1,00%
it’s still LeBron James it’s still LeBron James lebron James walked out lebron James walked out his phone as a phone break we going to talk about it tomorrow
we’re not doing that with Shay
that’s fine that’s because he’s polarizing the
face is he polar every face of the NBA is polarizing
the NBA is in sad shape if LeBron James is still the face of sad shape because he is the face
he’s not in bad shape
he is he is the face of the NBA
no he’s not no he’s not when I close my eyes right now and I think about the NBA
you think LeBron James
no i think of Shay Gilis Alexander i think just happened last night
think of the guy who just completed the best seat the guy who just had the best
face is directly behind you yeah that’s like right there
that may be part of it
the best I don’t think of that face
no it’s the one that behind you the other way
yeah that face the He just completed the best record that the best uh season accomplishment wise i get it
that any player has had since Michael Jordan
i get it we understand he could walk down New York Times Square why would you do that that is not true that is not true that is not true lebron James walked down
now I was going to say I was literally about to say but I don’t have it written down but I was literally about to say Rich that man can walk at Ne Marcus
lebron James was in a restaurant the restaurant everybody in the restaurant go stop the chefs the cooks they all the the waiters the waitresses the bus boy they gonna stop
if Shay walked in there they would say “This guy’s really tall.” You know what they would that’s what they do
that doesn’t reflect that they If Michael Jordan did it they they do the same thing that’s right that doesn’t mean that Michael Jordan is the face of the NBA
yes he does cuz he was oh my god
all right hold on tell me tell me this all right one one question Rick what face of the league they wouldn’t do that for
name one
steph Curry steph Curry
yeah i mean they gonna stop they gonna ask him
no they would they would do that
do you want to come help i’m saying Shay doesn’t have that presence yet every face in the league has that presence
kobe Jordan Shaq Magic Johnson like they all were polarizing figures when they walked into the building the room just stopped you looked up and was like
if Shay Gil just Alexander walked into a restaurant if he don’t walk up if you walk up
if Jordan walked in right now for me and I’ll be like and I never seen Jordan before I’ll be like is that Jordan i’mma stop like I’m going be sitting here on TV and I’mma forget I’m on TV looking like is that Jordan like if Shay walk in I’m be like okay there go Shay okay you guys uh you know it ain’t no it ain’t no it ain’t no shade at him but I’m just saying there’s levels to this there are so many guys that that would that would occur but who no no no it ain’t i can name them all so can I and I didn’t play in the NBA i can name them all like the most who’s the most polarizing figure in the league stephan Kat
lebron James
katie
kd okay katie shay can still blend in some places a lot of places that’s what I’m saying it’s fresh in your mind you just watched him win
he has to grow into He has to grow into it he first of all first of all his personality okay all
we have a brand new NBA we have a new wave of stars to suggest that that somehow because we’ve known Steph and LeBron and Michael and Kobe and all these guys for years and years and years that you have to be that before you’re the face of the NBA right now
what’s this jersey sales looking like
well they up right now cuz they won but the the face of the league going to at some point
probably not better than Sophie Cunningham’s so is she the face of the WNBA listen listen listen he’s not the face of the league
he’s not he’s not the face of league he is the best player in the league right now
yes he’s the best player
um and the title and the MVP help but to be the face of the league you either have to be naturally polarizing and anointed in the way that LeBron was or Jordan or Magic and then you have to go and win we were not talking about Shay when he came into the league as being the future of the NBA
agreed we weren’t talking about that with Stephther
right but you can grow into that he’s the polarizing part part is important when we’re talking about who the the face of a league
he has to be controversial
no
no polarizing is different than controversial
love or hate him people love or hate Shay
who hates Shay
oh people hate him as a foul merchant are you kidding me there’s bunch of people that think he’s not that that he doesn’t deserve all that he’s received
i don’t know yeah I don’t know those people
well there there are people out there trust me
if you told me KD didn’t I You’ve never heard him called the foul merchant you never heard
i’ve never heard it you’ve never heard him denigrated as a foul merchant
i’ve heard that
the face the face of the league requires crossover appeal outside of the NBA 1,000% walk into a restaurant everybody’s going to stop
or are they going to say yes
and perhaps we’re moving towards a league that isn’t going to have a face and and part of that is the the parody and we’ll see if that actually benefits the NBA long term because as we know the last seven champions have all been from different teams we have moved away at least in the last seven years from dynasties from the people having a villain someone to root against right that’s that’s hard to do when there’s a different champion every single year it’s it’s hard to find people to hate so we’re moving away from this we’re talking about this as an energy around the league there’s not as much animosity everybody’s friends rivalries are dying fans aren’t really fans of teams anymore they’re more fans of players so that makes it difficult to manufacture this conversation when we’re talking about who the the finals itself right yeah which which did a great rating
right it was it was two small market teams without controversial players in it or or or polarizing players in it and no old guard no OG’s whatsoever i know that’s not what OG stands for but I’m saying okay like no none of them at all right no LeBron no KD no Steph
this may be what NBA fans are looking for now but to say that he’s the face of the league well then then last year
so
last year it was Jaylen Tatum
it was Jason Tatum and then the year before that it was
Jason didn’t have anything close to the kind of career that uh the kind of season that Chay had
yeah but that’s but but it it it’s not all based on the season the face of the league is is not just the statistics
that’s what I was going to say cuz here’s what I’m going to say to you Rick and you you’ll get up and leave on this one let Ant-Man win a championship next year just let him win a championship he’s going to leapfrog in people’s opinion shay of the face of the league you watch bye-bye Rick bye-bye no so you 100% fact let him win a championship next year i don’t think we have to worry about that
oh you going to have to worry about that
you’re saying you’re So the description you gave me was that Sheay is reflective reflective of the league that we’re looking at now
i don’t think that I don’t think the league if you’re not going to say that LeBron James is the face of the league which I feel like he is
but if we’re going to say that LeBron James is no longer the face of the league
there is no face of the league let me ask you this and I said from the very beginning that Shay Gilis Alexander is the face of the league by default
if I walk outside if I walk outside
if anybody is the face of the league
if I walk outside Pico Pico Boulevard and stop someone on the street and ask them to name me an NBA player they’re going to say you will never if I give them if I give them 50 they’re not saying Shay say seven players
seven players before they get the Shay
like stop saying it’s not LeBron because was Jordan a face when he came back in Washington absolutely was 10,000%
yeah he was still the face when Jordan came back immediately back to the face of the league
on the Wizards
so to say LeBron even though at an older age
wanted to go to the Wizards
i mean it’s it’s it’s just it’s not even shade the face of the of the league is a transcendent superstar
that is in every single commercial that is in every single uh show that is in movies that is is popping up in play has has lotions like It’s infinite like the limit the limit does not exist for the face of the league
the next potential face of the league
i think you guys are talking about
it’s all historically
all part of it
transcendent players and there’s a handful of them
and I don’t know that
but all those
I don’t know how many can ever ascend to that and they will always be connected to the NBA and they will always be a face or a person that they that a a majority of mainstream people who aren’t basketball fans that’s what we’re saying think of with the NBA but then you’re you’re if you’re using that definition then you’re just saying that there’s a multitude of faces of the NBA because they’ve established themselves and their connection on a wider plane and I’m looking at the NBA as it is right now he’s not there yet
and those and those who are in it
he’s not there yet he’s still young he needs to win more he needs to do this again and again and his market doesn’t necessarily help him either personalitywise we just talked about him yesterday about just the the way he celebrated it’s just his personality
you know it just doesn’t seem real it was just like you know it’s all just happening right now change your voice
no that’s
but you have to have a personality joy is right it’s commercials all of those things are part of it
i’m tell the next face of the league is
the next face of the league is going to be womenyama cuz he he’s he’s going to check all those boxes
and if he gets a championship yeah
even before he don’t even have to get a championship he’s just on his way to that because Jordan was the face before he won lebron was the face before he won yeah but Jordan just had such a
you know it’s just that it’s just that Magic came in and won right away
bird won right away but Jordan was the when Jordan came home with the Jordans in the dunk contest he won once he won the dunk contest he was the face
you know he didn’t win no championships yet
mhm
no but the
Well there’s different ways to get there
but the dunk contest was just so you know all that
like once he went to the free throw line it was over
yeah needs you to like Wy is going to do something like like it’s going to be over cuz the stuff we going to see him do out there is going to be so incredible 10 blocks 10 assists 10 rebounds 10 points 10 steals cool he going to do something crazy
if they go if they go back to back or they become the next dynasty in the next 3 to four years 100% he will be because he will have been in our faces at the at the height when when the most amount of casual fans are watching which is the NBA finals and we will be seeing him at his height but if that doesn’t happen which for the past seven years it hasn’t we’re not just going to keep moving this assignment to the next person that has a great season every year maybe there isn’t a face of the league anymore because that’s what the NBA has strategically designed but yeah I mean until I can argue with someone on the street about anything that has to do with Shay I don’t think that he’s he’s there yet he’s my favorite you just want to walk into his face of the NBA
i mean I’m just like walking into his office like “Hey everybody I’ll give you $5 if you name an NBA player right now
he’s your face.” He’s my face of the NBA
it’s okay you lose again
you got the Shay Gil just Alexander shoes yet
no they’re on order yeah all right how much they cost make them make them first
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Joy Taylor, Keyshawn Johnson, Paul Pierce, and Ric Bucher debate what the Oklahoma City Thunder’s first NBA title means for the league. Ric says Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is now the face of the NBA, but Keyshawn and Paul push back — arguing LeBron James still holds that crown. The crew dives deep into how the Thunder’s rise reshapes the league’s power balance and what it means for the future of star power in the NBA.

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