Stat Shows How Often Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 'Falls' During Spurs-Thunder Series

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might be a four-time All-Star and two-time MVP, but he's not immune to criticism from the NBA community.

Gilgeous-Alexander, who averaged 31.1 points per game during the regular season, has been accused of flopping throughout the NBA playoffs. Some fans even suggested that he falls on every other shot attempt. While that isn't true, Tom Haberstroh of Yahoo Sports shared an interesting breakdown this week.

Through the first two games of the Western Conference Finals, it appears Gilgeous-Alexander has fallen to the ground on 13 of his 47 field goal attempts. That's right, he has ended up on the ground after 27.6% of his shots against the San Antonio Spurs.

As you'd imagine, NBA fans had a field day with this information.

"That's an absurdly high number, especially when you watch the video and see how many of them he wasn't even touched," a fan said. "Man doesn't wanna hoop, he wants to get to that line."

"Look at what the sport has come to man," a second fan wrote.

"27.6% may sound like not too much. But what's the average for the league? It he's going to the ground 3/4/5/6x (or more?) more than other players that's disgusting basketball, even if it's not the majority of the shots," another fan argued.

SGA is well aware of the flopping narrative.

After sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the playoffs, the reigning MVP of the league fired back at the fans claiming Oklahoma City gets preferential treatment.

"The way I see it, the fans, the people that watched the games and root against us, they want their team to win. You will never hear an Oklahoma City Thunder fan complaining about my free throws. You will never hear a Lakers fan complaining about LeBron or Luka's free throws," Gilgeous-Alexander said, via ESPN. "I get it, guys. I would hate me too."

For what it's worth, Gilgeous-Alexander is leading all players this postseason with 8.5 made free throws per game.

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This story was originally published May 22, 2026 at 5:30 PM.