Oklahoma City Thunder superstar guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander isn't taking anything away from his team winning the 2025 NBA Finals. But Gilgeous-Alexander isn't satisfied either.
"Honestly speaking, I didn't like the way we won, if that makes sense," said Gilgeous-Alexander. "I didn't think we won an NBA championship playing our best basketball. That was the first time we'd been that far in the playoffs, so it was a learning experience for us.
"But it takes another level of focus, discipline, assertiveness, aggression, to be who we were in the regular season, and do that throughout the postseason."
As for his own game, the reigning MVP said he's far from a finished product.
"I would say pretty far away," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "There's just so many areas of basketball, I feel like, especially at my position, having the ball as much as I do. ... I'm the point of attack offensively. There's playing without the ball. There's different levels of scoring. There's the complete other side of the ball. There's scoring in transition. There's just so many sides and parts to the game that the greatest players have mastered.
"I've heard coaches talk about playing against (former NBA All-Star Rajon) Rondo, and it's almost like you're playing against a coach on the floor. He knows all your plays, and he knows what you're going to do next, and things like that. There's just so many angles and ways that you can give yourself and your team an edge to win a basketball possession, a quarter, and then ultimately a game. So until I kind of get my grips on all of those, which will probably be a long time, I'd say pretty far away."