Jul 16, 2025; Hollywood, CA, USA; Shai Gilgeous-Alexander poses on the ESPYs red carpet at the Dolby Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

OKC Thunder Superstar Appears on Tonight Night Show with Jimmy Fallon

Originally posted on Oklahoma City Thunder on SI
By Rylan Stiles | Last updated Sep 5, 2025 10:55 AM ET

The Oklahoma City Thunder have won their first NBA championship in franchise history. That offers up plenty of media opportunities for its players. The latest sees superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander join the tonight show starring Jimmy Fallon on NBC following the first football game of the NFL season.

What a year it has been for Gilgeous-Alexander. The Oklahoma City Thunder star led the NBA in scoring, lifted the Thunder to 68 wins and a championship. En route, he released his first signature shoe –– the SHAI 001s which sold out in a matter of minutes today –– bagged the NBA MVP, Western Conference Finals MVP and NBA Finals MVP awards. Following the season, Gilgeous-Alexander inked a massive four-year $285 million supermax extension. Then, he graced the cover of the new NBA 2K video game, NBA 2K26.

After winning a couple of ESPYs, he now joins Fallon on stage to continue his stardom elevation on a National scale.

On the late night talk show apperance with Fallon, the Oklahoma City Thunder superstar announced that more colorways of his signature shoes, the SHAI 001s, will release on Oct. 2. It will be the Masai Blue, Hail Clay and Charm black editions. On Thursday, Sept. 5 the butter colorways sold out in a matter of minutes when Converse put them on sale. Expect these colorways to net the same result.

In the midst of the interview on opening night of the NFL season, Fallon asked Gilgeous-Alexander if he had any thoughts of playing in the NFL. "No, no chance….i wouldn’t disrespect them like that. Just like how they can’t come on a basketball court I can’t go on a football field. Let’s just stay in our lanes," the superstar laughed.

The Oklahoma City Thunder point guard played football for a short time, "I quickly quit," he admitted after falling on the ball to take the wind out of him. He mentioned he has never had the wind knocked out of him in basketball before. But Fallon did dig up an old photo of Gilgeous-Alexander playing football.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the football player. pic.twitter.com/xog0FQTn7B
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) September 5, 2025

At the start of the show, Fallon listed off all of the accomplishments of the Kentucky product this season. When asked if Gilgeous-Alexander were imagined this was possible growing up, he gave a simple answer.

"No, not at all," the Thunder superstar said. "“It’s crazy, it’s an amazing feeling. But it goes to shows when you work hard, put your head down and take it one step at a time you can get anywhere you want to go."

When the subject got put onto Gilgeous-Alexander's pregame outfits fans see him wear in the tunnel he revealed you have to "sacrifice comfort," for fashion. Then, the OKC Thunder star decked out Fallon in brand new threads.