With the NBA stuck in its August lull, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s father decided to stir the pot a little.
Vaughn Alexander jumped on a social media livestream over the weekend and was asked to name his top three NBA point guards. He started where plenty of people would expect, putting his son at No. 1.
"I'm going to say Shai, of course. Get that out of the way," Alexander said.
"Cunningham, No. 2.
Who am I going to put there at No. 3?
A true point guard. Ja Morant."
That left Cade Cunningham at No. 2 and Ja Morant at No. 3, while Luka Doncic was nowhere on the list.
The omission stands out because Gilgeous-Alexander has become one of the league’s biggest names, backed by a two-time MVP win and four straight 30-point seasons. Alexander’s ranking of his son at the top makes sense. The bigger eyebrow-raiser was the rest of the list, especially with Doncic left off entirely.
Alexander did acknowledge Doncic’s place among the league’s elite. He said Doncic remains in the MVP mix and pointed to his status as a top-tier player last season. But he also made clear what mattered most to him in the debate: star guards have to handle business on both ends.
"He's in the MVP conversation every year. He's top three," Alexander said.
"But you gotta play defense, though. Play both sides."
So while the comments don’t speak for Gilgeous-Alexander himself, they did give the slow part of the NBA calendar a little extra juice. In August, that’s enough to get people talking.
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