As the San Antonio Spurs celebrated a thrilling victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals on Saturday night, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s dreams of winning back-to-back NBA titles were dashed.
However, supporters continued to accuse the two-time MVP of failing on social media.
The way the officials handled Gilgeous-Alexander became a recurrent subject in the Western Conference Finals, and on Saturday night, the Thunder star was once again under scrutiny.
Despite Oklahoma City’s 111-103 defeat in Game 7, he was accused of “foul baiting” and “flopping” in numerous comments on social media.
In one video that quickly went viral, Gilgeous-Alexander appeared to solicit contact with Devin Vassell before collapsing to the ground.
In a different instance, Stephon Castle was brushed by the Thunder star as he leaped to fire. Gilgeous-Alexander fell to the ground after landing on his opponent’s foot. However, no foul was called this time.
As the Thunder lost to the Spurs, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was accused of failing even more.
On Saturday night, the two-time MVP’s dreams of winning another NBA title were dashed.
In one widely shared video, Gilgeous-Alexander was shown falling to the ground when facing Devin Vassell.
One fan commented, “Refs aren’t falling for SGA’s flops,” next to the video. He was called the “worst MVP the league has seen” and accused of “foul baiting” by another user.
Another said, “All he does is flop,” and a fan wrote, “Come on, stop calling this BS,” urging the officials to be more stringent.
Following the Thunder’s postseason defeat, Gilgeous-Alexander was also made fun of. One fan wrote, “He can finally receive treatment for his vertigo over the summer.”
With 35 points and nine assists, Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder, but the NBA will have a new champion for the eighth consecutive season.
He later remarked, “They were just the better team tonight, from start to finish.” And it seemed like they had a response each time we attempted to penetrate it and take command of the game.
“Hats off to them,” he continued. They deserved to win the game because they performed better tonight.
