OKC Thunder Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Addresses Comparisons to Team's Former 'Big Three'
On Sunday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder took down the Phoenix Suns 118-110 in Arizona.
The game featured former NBA MVP Kevin Durant taking on his former team, tallying 20 points, four rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block. With the win, OKC improved to 42-18 on the season and briefly took the top spot in the Western Conference.
After the game, Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was asked about how Oklahoma City's young "big three" compared to the first iteration of OKC's star-studded lineup.
"I think there's three of them and there's three of us. A talented group of guys but I don't really think our games compared to theirs," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
"Those guys are three amazing basketball players and have done amazing things with this game and have changed the game forever. We're three kids just trying to get better at trying to chase some of the things that they've achieved and trying to ultimately win an NBA championship."
The trio of Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden that SGA is referring to never won an NBA championship together but still had plenty of impressive accomplishments.
Westbrook and Durant were both crowned MVP during their time in the Modern Frontier while Harden would go on to win the award after being traded to Houston.
Additionally, the group led the Thunder to the NBA Finals in 2012, but would ultimately fall short, losing to LeBron James and the Miami Heat in five games.
While it is very unlikely that the team's current "big three" of Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren will all win the MVP award, Sam Presti and company have built a solid team around the trio that should give them a decent chance at making the NBA Finals during the team's life cycle.
Additionally, Presti has compiled so many draft assets that the Thunder have a much longer time frame to win, as Presti can continue to add good role players through the draft or trade picks to get players who fit Mark Daigneault's system.
Oklahoma City may not have three MVPs on its roster again, but Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren play well off of each other and all have the potential to be All-Star caliber players for many years.
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