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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander knows the label.
“Foul merchant” has become one of the NBA’s most common terms in the 2020s. It is used to describe a player who generates a high number of free throws, especially in ways that draw the ire of fans.
But getting to the free-throw line has long been the lifeblood of great scorers. The top-10 scorers in NBA history — LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, Wilt Chamberlain, James Harden and Shaquille O’Neal — collectively averaged just under 8.0 free-throw attempts per game over the course of their NBA careers. It’s rare for a championship team not to have a player who gets at least 5.0 free-throw attempts per game.
Gilgeous-Alexander is in that club. The Oklahoma City Thunder star is one of 45 players in NBA history to have a season of at least 10 free-throw attempts per game (10.9 in 2022-23). This season, Gilgeous-Alexander, who averaged 31.1 points per game, attempted 9.0 free throws per game, fourth in the league behind league-leading scorer Luka Dončić of the Los Angeles Lakers (10.1), Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks (9.9) and Deni Avdija of the Portland Trail Blazers (9.2).
Gilgeous-Alexander hears the noise about his game. But it’s not going to change the way the reigning NBA MVP plays.
💬 “Whatever it takes to be the best, is whatever I am trying to go out there and do. Free throws is part of the game. And if I get fouled, I get fouled. If I don’t get fouled, try and make the shot. That’s how you play basketball.”
