Over the course of NBA All-Star weekend, OKC Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was praised by his peers.
As regular season games across the NBA were put on pause over the weekend, NBA All-Star festivities took place in Indianapolis. It’s a three-day event filled with a variety of activities which provides fans around the world to see some of the current best players in the league along with the next wave of future stars.
The Oklahoma City Thunder had five players who participated in NBA All-Star events, each of which had great success. While the performance of each player in their respective competitions was impressive, what was more interesting about the weekend was the bigger picture themes surrounding the Thunder.
It’s become increasingly clear just how much respect this Oklahoma City team is getting from its peers around the league. Both in terms of the expectations for the team overall as well as the way some of the individual players on the roster are viewed, this weekend confirmed the official arrival of this young squad.
Perhaps the headline comment related to the Thunder during the break came from LeBron James, who was asked which young players could be the next to carry the torch once his time in the NBA comes to an end. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was one of four players the 39-year-old thought of when considering who could be the next face of the league. Steph Curry was asked a similar question ahead of All-Star practice on Saturday, who also mentioned the Thunder’s 25-year-old star as a player who could be a face of the league when this current generation moves on.
Former Thunder great Kevin Durant was asked the same question, who gave great perspective into how he thinks about the players that define a generation.
