Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continued to celebrate winning the NBA championship by penning an ode to his critics and sharing it with fans on social media.
The MVP is known for his poetic Instagram captions, which fans have compared to those of fellow Canadian star Drake.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Shares Poetic Message for OKC’s Doubters
The Thunder are still riding high after closing out the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals on Sunday night. Gilgeous-Alexander and the rest of the team celebrated with fans during their parade held in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Tuesday.
SGA, the Finals MVP, shared a photo of himself and his teammates from the parade along with a special message on his Instagram account.
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“I spent the last few days thinking and while I reflected,
I accepted,
that half of the opinions on our trajectory were rooted in resentment.
It was in front of your face all year,
But you chose to neglect it.
The more milestones we reached,
The more people disrespected.
They tried to say we were too young,
Hating on how we were connected.
Predicted our downfall every step of the way
& when we succeeded they acted like it was expected.
We ignored the noise,
They said i was being nonchalant bc I never would address it,
Why would I shed light on rage bait and misdirection?
I’d rather be the reason that you stand corrected.
Staring at the Larry O.,
my only competition is the man in the reflection.”
The rhyme drew high praise in the comments, including from veteran Canadian hip-hop star Kardinal Offishall. It was a strong message to all who doubted Oklahoma City’s toughness and experience to win the NBA Finals, despite their having the best regular-season record at 68-14.
Gilgeous-Alexander capped off a tremendous year en route to the championship by winning the league’s scoring title along with the MVP award, edging out six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan. He added to that by winning NBA Finals MVP. At 26, only he and NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have accomplished that feat (Abdul-Jabbar did so at 23).
The Thunder’s young core of Alexander, 23-year-old Chet Holmgren, 21-year-old Cason Wallace, and 23-year-old Jalen Williams is primed to compete for another title. With general manager Sam Presti overseeing the team’s bevy of draft picks (including 10 first-round picks in the next five drafts), there may be fewer doubters of Oklahoma City’s ability to reach this milestone again.
