POSTMEDIA MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

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Steve Nash was once alone.

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He was one atop his personal gorgeous mountain, he and no one else on the brief record of all-time nice, change-the-game, Canadian basketball gamers whose type of play screamed to be observed and admired.

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However the quiet screaming now, if it’s attainable to attain 30 factors an evening within the NBA quietly, is being achieved by the unrivaled Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, born in Toronto, grew up in Hamilton, nonetheless calling the Golden Horseshoe dwelling, who realized and perfected his basketball in Southern Ontario and throughout North America and is being acknowledged now, amongst his many recognitions, as Postmedia’s Male Athlete of the Yr.

He’s scoring simply over 30 factors a recreation for the rising Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder of the NBA after scoring simply over 31 factors a recreation a season in the past. The record of Canadians to attain greater than 30 factors a recreation within the NBA is a brief one.

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It’s him.

By himself.

That’s it.

And the corporate round him and beneath him on the scoring leaders record is moderately astounding. LeBron James is beneath him. Steph Curry too. Gilgeous-Alexander is scoring greater than league MVP Nikola Jokic, greater than former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, greater than probably the most explosive American gamers within the recreation, Jayson Tatum and Kawhi Leonard and Tyrese Haliburton.

Final season in OKC, he scored 31.4 factors per recreation, most ever by a Canadian. This season, he’s at 30.4, which if it holds up, might be second most by a Canadian. The 24.5 factors he scored the yr earlier than is third most by a Canadian. And sure, he’s had the fourth finest scoring season in Canadian historical past, additionally at 23.7 factors an evening.

In different phrases, he ranks 1-2-3-and-4 in scoring for Canadians all-time within the NBA, the numbers of the final two seasons, simply because the win whole is beginning to develop exponentially in Oklahoma Metropolis, are greater than 10 factors past something the outstanding Nash managed in his sensible Corridor of Fame profession.

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And that is just the start, actually, simply popping out occasion for MVP candidate Gilgeous-Alexander.

Or is it?

“We have been seeing this when he got here into our camps years in the past,” stated Rowan Barrett, father of RJ Barrett, former Olympian himself and now the final supervisor of Crew Canada. “He was 15 or 16. He was very tall and really skinny with lengthy arms and just a bit awkward however you may see the expertise.

“At 16 we introduced him to our senior (nationwide group) tryouts. He was taking part in towards males, most of them professionals. And we’re considering — take a look at what’s occurring right here? — this man goes to be one thing particular.

“I took some criticism for placing him on the group. However then you definitely watched him, and as a guard he was greater, longer, extra athletic, extra expert than anybody else. You noticed that then. You’re seeing that now. The factor is, Shai will get higher each single yr, his focus, his willpower, his private method. He by no means stops engaged on his recreation and what you don’t know is how robust he’s.”

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Former nationwide group coach Jay Triano remembers taking Gilgeous-Alexander to the Olympic qualification match within the Philippines for the primary time because the third level guard on Crew Canada.

“We’re on the bus and we’re ready for him and we’re going to our first observe and he’s not there I believed ‘That is my likelihood to make an instance of him for the entire group.’ So we left with out him.

“And after we obtained to the health club, there he was, doing a pre-practice exercise with Steve Nash, who was our common supervisor. They’d been there for a few hours. That’s Shai in a nutshell. He by no means stops.”

Earlier this month, Triano was on the bench in his assistant teaching position with the Sacramento Kings after they performed Oklahoma Metropolis. One other Sacramento assistant occurs to be Canada’s head coach, Jordi Fernandez. Gilgeous-Alexander dropped 43 factors on them. “Our entire focus was to cease Shai,” stated Triano. “We put our greatest defender on him. It didn’t matter what we did. we couldn’t cease him. Proper now, he’s as elusive with the basketball as anyone within the recreation. We modified our defensive method on him mid-game. It didn’t matter.”

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It was the fourth time this season Gilgeous-Alexander scored at the very least 40 factors. “He was unbelievable,” stated Triano.

Unbelievable, additionally, is what occurred on December 11, after Gilgeous-Alexander was voted Canadian Athlete of the Yr by the North Star committee, previously the Lou Marsh Award. It turned Canada Evening within the NBA.

To have fun Gilgeous-Alexander scored a modest 30 factors as did Bennedict Mathurin of Montreal and Jamal Murray of Kitchener had 29 and Shaeden Sharpe of London, Ont., had 27 as did Barrett of Mississauga, all taking part in for various groups.

“Superb when you consider,” stated Triano, who was as soon as one of the best basketball participant in Canada together with the late Eli Pasquale and neither may make an NBA group. Now, there are greater than 23 Canadians within the NBA, so a lot of them distinguished on distinguished groups.

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However Gilgeous-Alexander, tall, skinny, obsessed, uber-talented, stands alone. The one different NBA participant to common 31 factors, 5 assists, 1.5 steals a recreation and 1 block a recreation for a complete season occurs to be named Michael Jordan.

That’s loopy firm for anybody, not to mention a child from Hamilton, not to mention the Canadian athlete of the yr, not to mention the one who carried Canada again to the Olympics in basketball after an absence of 24 years.

Nash was on that 2000 group. So was RJ Barrett’s dad, Rowan. Triano was the coach. All might be watching intently this summer season to see what Crew Canada can handle in Paris on the 2024 Olympic Video games. All might be watching the Canadian athlete of the yr — and who is aware of for what number of years after this?

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