(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
The Oklahoma City Thunder have put together one of the most promising cores in the league, and it’s not even close.
It all started when they got Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the Paul George trade, and while Josh Giddey, Chet Holmgren, and some of their other youngsters look quite nice early in their careers, Shai is obviously their best player and a bonafide star already.
However, Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell believes he doesn’t get the respect he deserves, going as far as to call him the most underrated player in the league.
In his recent appearance on “The Pat Bev Podcast,” Russell compared SGA with Kobe Bryant in regards to being extremely competitive and borderline impossible to guard.
D’Angelo Russell and Pat Bev gushing over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder:
“Shai’s the most underrated player in the league, bro. He got that Kobe sh*t. Hardest player to guard in the league.” -DLo
“Ask Pat, listen. OKC does this thing off the free throw line where we… pic.twitter.com/h4VFxMUecc
— Ross Lovelace (@Rosslovelace) August 3, 2023
He talked about one particular play from Mark Daigneault’s team in which they pretty much left him in isolation over the full court, and yet people cannot stop him.
Notably, Shai is coming off one of the greatest individual seasons in NBA history, posting Michael Jordan-like numbers.
He also plays solid defense as well, and he hasn’t even reached his prime, making it all the more interesting.
Calling him underrated could be a bit of a stretch, considering that people gave him plenty of praise during last year’s breakout season.
But he’s right in terms of people not talking about him enough as one of the rising stars of the league, and the Thunder might be a legit threat out of the Western Conference sooner than later.
They were a play-in team at worst when he was healthy, and he’s only going to get better with time.
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