Mark Daigneault Believes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Whistle Has Changed

There has been plenty of discourse surrounding Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's free throw attempts, as the superstar logs 9.0 attempts per night, ranking behind only Giannis Antetokounmpo in that category as Gilgeous-Alexander leads the league in points per game (33.0).

However, as many bellyache about the 26-year-old's charity stripe visits, Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault believes the calls for the superstar have changed during the second half of the year.

"I think Shai is being officiated a little bit differently right now. Some of the plays they are not getting, some of the plays they are putting on the side instead of rewarding shots for is different than it was [at the start of the season]," Daigneault said.

The head coach explained that is a subjective feeling and that crews are "laying off of some of the plays [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander] got earlier this year." Daigneault mentioned "He is still just as hard to guard. At the end of the day, fouling is at the legality of the defender...he puts guys in positions not to be legal quite a bit, because he is hard to stay in front of.

What wasn't subjective was a year ago when the league shifted its point of emphasis a year ago post-All-Star break to change how the game was called. The Thunder bench boss doesn't believe it has changed this year.

"I don't think the whistle universally is different. Last year, the data supported that. It wasn't like an opinion, that was a fact. The bigger thing with the whistle this year is like I think it is a lot different night-to-night. I thought the way the game got called in Milwaukee 24 hours after the way the game was called in Detroit, we might as well have been playing in different league's," Daigneault said. "The level of physicality that was allowed in the Detroit game and then the tightness of the whistle in Milwaukee was night and day. It is forcing us to calibrate to the crew every night."

The Oklahoma City Thunder will continue to stay focused on the game itself and adapting to however a game is called, but every team in the league would prefer more consistency from the officials.

Daigneault was asked about post-ASB officiating. Said “I think Shai’s being officiated a little bit differently rn.”

“Just some of the plays they’re not getting and they’re putting to the side.”

Says the biggest difference with the whistles is it’s “a lot different… pic.twitter.com/Ze1fXHWpfn
— Joel Lorenzi (@JoelXLorenzi) March 18, 2025

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