The Narravtives game (Shai)

[bdonovan]

Most players don't get away with this foul baiting flopping bullshit come playoff time so it didn't annoy me as much

But for some reason with SGA he gets protected by the refs more than any superstar I have ever seen since watching NBA in 2012

Do you have an explanation why Reaves gets more FT's a game than SGA? Reaves doesn't have half the offensive game to get the defender into trouble. Or why Doncic has been shooting something like 30% more FT's than SGA?

I think you may not watch enough OKC games and don't understand SGA's offensive game. He pretty much opens all the options on the offensive end; he can go through defenders, around them, turn around, fade-away, step back, etc. You basically cannot guard every possibility and fouls are inevitable.

[KD7]

Do you have an explanation why Reaves gets more FT's a game than SGA? Reaves doesn't have half the offensive game to get the defender into trouble. Or why Doncic has been shooting something like 30% more FT's than SGA?

I think you may not watch enough OKC games and don't understand SGA's offensive game. He pretty much opens all the options on the offensive end; he can go through defenders, around them, turn around, fade-away, step back, etc. You basically cannot guard every possibility and fouls are inevitable.

This is not basketball

[Yes or No]

Is this based on your daydreams or fantasies? Because he has a wife that would be out of everyone's league on this forum. Just curious if you have any reason for saying that.

If you can't tell by his literal physical appearance, physical characteristics and mannerisms and the way he dresses himself, I don't know what else to tell you except you need to get older.

He's a closet case if there ever was one.

And wow do you ever really need to grow up if you think having a wife and kids means you're straight. You just need more life experience period.

Plus he picked another basketball player, aka as close to as masculine as you can get for a woman without being trans or a bodybuilder.

I've known multiple women over the course of my life that looked to be on the masculine side that were later devastated when their husbands came out of the closet 20 years later. The best worker I ever had was a 40 year old woman recently divorced who was super athletic and her husband left her for a man.

Even in 2025 there are a substantial number of people, especially men, that do not want to come out of the closet. The NBA has 0 openly gay players. You think there are 0 gay players in the NBA? Grow up.

[bdonovan]

Saw the first video. Most of those fouls look correctly called by the refs. There were a few that were borderline but that the NBA's top players usually get. I saw very little foul-baiting. In fact, I see more from someone like Kevin Durant when he goes out of his way to drive directly into the retreating defender, and away from the hoop.

What strikes me the most are unprepared defenders who aren't anticipating the move correctly and are in SGA's space, or a weak last minute challenge where they make contact.

[ShawkFactory]

Saw the first video. Most of those fouls look correctly called by the refs. There were a few that were borderline but that the NBA's top players usually get. I saw very little foul-baiting. In fact, I see more from someone like Kevin Durant when he goes out of his way to drive directly into the retreating defender, and away from the hoop.

What strikes me the most are unprepared defenders who aren't anticipating the move correctly and are in SGA's space, or a weak last minute challenge where they make contact.

Yea some people really do just see what they want to see. That 4 minute video shows a guy which every move in the book.

He also made over half of the baskets in that video. I'm not sure how a move into a jumper, or a shot around the basket, could be considered "not a basketball move" when he's making the shot

It's not like Harden used to do where he'd flail and throw the ball straight up or wildly in the general vicinity of the basket.

[bdonovan]

Yea some people really do just see what they want to see. That 4 minute video shows a guy which every move in the book.

He also made over half of the baskets in that video. I'm not sure how a move into a jumper, or a shot around the basket, could be considered "not a basketball move" when he's making the shot

It's not like Harden used to do where he'd flail and throw the ball straight up or wildly in the general vicinity of the basket.

True.

There are plenty of examples in the video such as the one against the Heat (around 30 seconds in) where it's so obvious he has beat them to the position; the defender know he's beat and just runs full speed into SGA, not set in a legal guarding position at all.

Maybe his critics can argue it's not fun to watch him go to the line all the time, but he's not baiting these calls. He's just running circles around defenders.

In another one, Gobert clearly goes for the pump fake and prematurely jumps into SGA's space. Easy call.

Next one, McDaniels loses SGA, and wraps his arm around him and shoves him from behind. How anyone can think this is anything but an obvious foul from someone prone to losing his temper when he's beat, I don't know.

I can see where people get these opinions on SGA from- both announcers Richard Jefferson and Mike Breen are calling out SGA; or at least this video features all the times they seemingly got it wrong and assumed the foul was unwarranted. I look forward to when the announcers and refs are completely replaced with AI.

[bdonovan]

If you can't tell by his literal physical appearance, physical characteristics and mannerisms and the way he dresses himself, I don't know what else to tell you except you need to get older.

He's a closet case if there ever was one.

And wow do you ever really need to grow up if you think having a wife and kids means you're straight. You just need more life experience period.

Plus he picked another basketball player, aka as close to as masculine as you can get for a woman without being trans or a bodybuilder.

I've known multiple women over the course of my life that looked to be on the masculine side that were later devastated when their husbands came out of the closet 20 years later. The best worker I ever had was a 40 year old woman recently divorced who was super athletic and her husband left her for a man.

Even in 2025 there are a substantial number of people, especially men, that do not want to come out of the closet. The NBA has 0 openly gay players. You think there are 0 gay players in the NBA? Grow up.

No comment.

[FKAri]

Yes he does have an extremely friendly whistle. But so does Luka, Brunson, and others. The issue is that on defense him, Dort and others are allowed to be much more physical. The disparity between the 2 is the problem.

And it can't just be that he's better at drawing fouls because even when the Thunder play vs those guys, The Thunder always have the whistle advantage.