Thunder Veteran Kenrich Williams Has High, Deserving Praise for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Thursday night in Paycom Center, NBA MVP candidate and Oklahoma City Thunder superstar guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made history, scoring 20 points for the 127th consecutive regular season game, surpassing Wilt Chamberlain's 63-year-old mark. The Canadian didn't stop there, as he knocked down multiple crucial shots in the clutch to defeat the Boston Celtics, who hold the Eastern Conference's second-best record, 104-102.

After the game, eight-year NBA veteran and six-year teammate of Gilgeous-Alexander, Kenrich Williams, was asked about the guard's history-making performance by journalist Daniel Bell. Williams exclaimed that Gilgeous-Alexander belongs in "that conversation."

Kenrich Williams says it’s time to start having *that* conversation about SGA

When asked what conversation he’s talking about, he responded with

“That conversation” lol pic.twitter.com/2o3Ej9EHAQ
— The Daniel Bell© (@BasketballGuruD) March 13, 2026

"Mike [Jordan], Kobe [Bryant], guys like that, they don't have that record, Shai does, we gotta start having that conversation," Williams said.

If there's any player on the roster to have the reasoning to back up that opinion, it would be Williams. He is the third-longest tenured player in the Thunder organization, only behind Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort.

I’m glad I got to see a lot of it,” Dort said when asked about his longtime teammate setting the NBA record.

Williams is one of three players who remain from the Thunder's first team in the Draft Lottery since the 2014-15 season, which just missed the playoffs. Originally acquired as a salary filler in the Steven Adams trade, Williams has built a legacy in OKC with consistent, gritty play.

Gilgeous-Alexander has already climbed the NBA mountaintop, becoming the first player to win the MVP, scoring title and Finals MVP in the same season since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000. The only others to do so were Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

He also became the first player to win all three MVP awards in the same season, with the Conference Finals MVP award debuting for the league's 75th season in 2021.

If he goes and wins both the league and Finals MVP award once again this season, he'd be the fourth player ever to do it multiple times. Jordan (four times), LeBron James (twice) and Larry Bird (twice) are the three to do it.

Through 55 games played, the Kentucky product is the favorite to repeat the regular-season award, averaging 31.8 points and 6.6 assists per game with 66.9% true shooting. The Thunder, with the best record in the Association, are the favorites to repeat as champions.

Gilgeous-Alexander is already deserving of being in conversations with some of the greatest ever to play, while being just 27 years old. With plenty of prime left, it's best to believe it'll be impossible to leave him out of "that conversation" when he decides to hang up the sneakers.