the Thunder are favored to repeat<\/a> as champions. It feels like Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s journey is just beginning. In a recent interview with GQ, however, SGA pumped the brakes on the expectations of a long career.<\/p>\nThe three-time All-Star was asked about watching stars like LeBron James and Chris Paul play into their 40s, and whether he imagined following in their footsteps.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely think I can,\u201d Gilgeous-Alexander said. \u201cI won\u2019t, though. A hundred percent.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked why, he first pointed out that he wanted to be present for his son, Ares. Gilgeous-Alexander and wife, Hailey Summers, welcomed Ares to the family in April 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t want to miss that much of my kid\u2019s life,\u201d SGA said. \u201cI won\u2019t want to be away and miss his first basketball game every year, his first soccer game, football game, piano lesson, chess lesson, whatever it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
James and Paul have discussed for years the sacrifices made by their families as they continue their careers. Paul decided to return to the Clippers this season in large part because of a desire to reunite with his family in Los Angeles. Missing key moments in his children\u2019s lives has been hard. That is something Gilgeous-Alexander seems set on avoiding.<\/p>\n
In the second part of his answer, the Canadian focused on the basketball element. There\u2019s a limit to what he needs to see from himself on the basketball court.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a certain point in your career where you reach your peak,\u201d Gilgeous-Alexander said. \u201cI don\u2019t fault guys for still playing. They love the game. But I just feel like I play this game, ultimately, to see what the best version of me can be. Once I figure that out and I start going down, then it\u2019s like, OK, well, what am I playing for now? As soon as that happens, I\u2019ll be on the first ship out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those who manage to play the longest careers in the NBA, like 22-year veteran Vince Carter, must face increasing limitations to their skill set. As their bodies break down, older players have to change the way they play to have success. Gilgeous-Alexander appears to have no interest in watching himself progress past the prime of his career.<\/p>\n
Thunder fans will certainly hope that Gilgeous-Alexander\u2019s \u201cpeak\u201d comes on the later side and that he will remain their franchise cornerstone for years to come. When he was asked whether he thought his career would end in his mid-30s, SGA responded, \u201cThere\u2019s no telling. But I promise you it won\u2019t be 40.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Entering the 2025-26 NBA season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is on top of the basketball world. The Oklahoma City Thunder…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,6402,99],"class_list":["post-224738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}