With a poem and a championship ring, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander silenced them all.
This aura farmer got bars to spare.
Three days after leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to the 2025 NBA title, the newly crowned NBA Finals MVP took time in social media —not for highlights or soundbites, but for a poetic statement aimed squarely at the critics who doubted the team’s legitimacy.
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“I spent the last few days thinking and while I reflected, I accepted, that half of the opinions on our trajectory were rooted in resentment,” Gilgeous-Alexander wrote. “They tried to say we were too young… predicted our downfall every step of the way.”
It was vintage SGA—measured in tone, direct in message. But after guiding the Thunder to the franchise’s first championship since moving to Oklahoma City in 2008, Gilgeous-Alexander used his words to set the record straight.
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“They tried to say we were too young, hating on how we were connected,” he continued. “Predicted our downfall every step of the way... and when we succeeded they acted like it was expected.”
The poem closed with a line that doubled as both a mic drop and mission statement:
“I’d rather be the reason that you stand corrected. Staring at the Larry O., my only competition is the man in the reflection.”
Gilgeous-Alexander’s message struck a chord—not just for its poetic delivery, but for the power behind it. The 26-year-old didn’t name names, but the target was clear: those who dismissed Oklahoma City’s rise as premature, their roster as too young, and their title hopes as too far away.
Yet the Thunder proved them wrong at every turn.
Behind Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP campaign, Oklahoma City finished with an NBA-best 68 wins in the regular season, then survived a grueling playoff run with series victories over Memphis, Denver, Minnesota, and Indiana.
SGA averaged 30.2 points in the postseason and led a group that includes rising stars Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, and Cason Wallace—none older than 23—as well as key veterans like Alex Caruso, Lu Dort, and Isaiah Hartenstein.
The skeptics had their say and yet Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder had the last word.
