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Published Aug 07, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 3 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n HAMILTON \u2014 He\u2019s an NBA superstar and champion, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has never forgotten his roots.<\/p>\n Gilgeous-Alexander received the key to the city of Hamilton from Mayor Andrea Horwath at a public rally Thursday at Hamilton Stadium.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Recommended Videos<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Horwath also announced the 27-year-old basketball star will also have a street named after him after capping an epic 2024-25 season by leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a thrilling seven-game league championship victory over the Indiana Pacers.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Exclusive columns by Ryan Stelter, Paul Friesen, Ted Wyman, Scott Billeck, Lorrie Goldstein, Warren Kinsella and others. Plus newsletters: Gimme Stelter for your beat on the city, The Exit Row for all your Jets news and On the Rocks for curling.Unlimited online access to Winnipeg Sun and 15 news sites with one account.Winnipeg Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Exclusive columns by Ryan Stelter, Paul Friesen, Ted Wyman, Scott Billeck, Lorrie Goldstein, Warren Kinsella and others. Plus newsletters: Gimme Stelter for your beat on the city, The Exit Row for all your Jets news and On the Rocks for curling.Unlimited online access to Winnipeg Sun and 15 news sites with one account.Winnipeg Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an Account<\/p>\n or<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cGrowing up as I travelled across the world, to countless states, cities and countries people always asked where I was from,\u201d Gilgeous-Alexander told a raucous gathering in the north end zone after hoisting the NBA championship trophy over his head. \u201cI took pride in letting everyone know I was from Hamilton.<\/p>\n \u201cHamilton is different from every other city in Ontario, Hamiltonians carry a different sense of grit, determination, pride and energy than the rest of the province and honestly, I couldn\u2019t shy away from that. I carry that with me every day and everywhere I go so you guys can only imagine how (much) overwhelming joy there was when I found out I was getting a key to the city I love and a street named after me.\u201d<\/p>\n Gilgeous-Alexander returned to Hamilton Stadium on Thursday night. He was honoured to start the second quarter of the CFL game between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the B.C. Lions.<\/p>\n The Winnipeg Sun’s Daily Headline News<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Looking over thousands of people \u2014 including many youngsters and children donning Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s No. 2 jersey \u2014 hit the NBA star hard. Gilgeous-Alexander stepped on to the stage wearing a Ticats short with the No. 2.<\/p>\n \u201cEarly on, I had my shades on so you couldn\u2019t see me tearing up a little bit but it was very special,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been on that field in various amount of ways growing up and for me to be on it in that fashion was special.<\/p>\n \u201cA full circle moment. All of it kind of feels like that when I come back home. Not a lot of people know about this city but the support I feel no matter where I am in the world is special and I\u2019m appreciative of that at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n Rowan Barrett, the executive vice-president and general manager of Canada\u2019s national men\u2019s team, also spoke of Gilgeous-Alexander at the rally. And Ron Foxcroft, a longtime basketball official and chairman\/CEO of Fluke Transportation & Warehousing, presented Gilgeous-Alexander with a gold basketball.<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n This past season was one to remember for six-foot-six, 195-pound Gilgeous-Alexander. In addition to leading the Thunder to its first NBA title, he was named the Finals MVP and regular season MVP while winning the league scoring title.<\/p>\n He became just the fourth player to accomplish that feat in one season, joining Hall of Famers Shaquille O\u2019 Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very proud day for Hamilton,\u201d Horwath said. \u201cWe\u2019re all very proud of Shai and we stand in awe of his achievements.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019re all on Cloud 9 here in the Hammer today. What it means for Hamilton is, I think, something we all know, which is we have a lot of greatness in this city.\u201d<\/p>\n After the season, Gilgeous-Alexander signed a four-year, US$285-million extension with the Thunder. That makes him the highest-paid player in the NBA on an annual salary basis.<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Gilgeous-Alexander also signed multi-year extension with Converse that makes him the creative director of Converse Basketball. The deal, reportedly worth $15 million annually, came after O\u2019Neal pursued the Canadian to sign with Reebok.<\/p>\n O\u2019Neal is currently the president of Reebok Basketball, a role he assumed 2023.<\/p>\n Gilgeous-Alexander is also the cover athlete of NBA 2K26. Heady stuff for a player who didn\u2019t make his high school basketball team in the ninth grade.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone says your hard work pays off and sometimes it doesn\u2019t pay off in the way you want it to,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t always get what you want and what you dream for.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd for that kid that didn\u2019t even make that team to get to this moment and get what he kind of dreamt for and worked for, it\u2019s special and not taken for granted. It\u2019s a blessing and I just try to soak up all of the moments.\u201d<\/p>\n This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 7, 2025.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links PMN Author of the article: Published Aug 07, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 3 minute read You can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54259,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-54258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Winnipeg](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/19.2.5\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-wsun-new.svg\"){kind=logo}
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