Sam Presti Offers High Praise for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

The Oklahoma City Thunder have clinched their first championship in team history behind superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

The NBA MVP put together one of the best seasons of all time, not only bagging that honor but becoming the league's scoring champion, the Western Conference Finals MVP, the NBA Finals MVP and hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy.

Gilgeous-Alexander does his scoring in a unique way. A blend of finesse and strength, masterful mid-range artistry and a great rim finishing threat through contact, coupled with his ability to start and stop his way past pest defenders.

At his annual end-of-season exit interview, Sam Presti was peppered with questions. He was eventually asked about his previous assessment of the Thunder's core.

Presti once called Kevin Durant a basketball God, James Harden a basketball genius and Russell Westbrook a basketball warrior. The Thunder's top executive was asked to label his current superstar.

"Basketball artist," Presti explained. "That's what I would say with Shai. That's my first reaction to that. "I just think he's got left and right brain working, and I think when you think about people that are extremely successful in what they do, they can't operate all on one side or the other, People have to have, to me, the great people in life, business, sports, any industry, have to be able to access both sides, a creative side and then also a very objective side."

Presti's ability to discuss topics with such depth make his annual exit interview makes it a must listen each season. The Thunder have clearly invested in Gilgeous-Alexander as a player since stepping foot in Oklahoma City back in July of 2019.

"But what makes to me the greatest of the great are the people that have the emotional intelligence to decide when to call on each one of those," Presti continued. "So you can have access to both, but the key is knowing when to pull which club, at what time. You just can't use the hammer. If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. So in this case, you've got to know when to use the hammer, and then you've got to know when to use the sander, if that's an example. And I think he's got that."

Now, Gilgeous-Alexander is inked to a supermax contract this week and solidifying his future in Bricktown.