Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander received the keys to the city of Hamilton from Mayor Andrea Horwath during a public rally Thursday at Hamilton Stadium.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has a street named after him
Since September 1998, Horwath has given Gilgeous-Alexander the first key to the city introduced by the mayor of Hamilton. The last recipient was professional wrestler “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
“Shai, you inspire Hamilton not only, not only Canada, but fans around the world. And you do it with humility, heart and firm connections with the city you call home,” Hovas said. “On behalf of all Hamiltonians, we can no longer be proud.”
Hovas also announced that the dominant NBA MVP will be named after him after leading the Thunder to the first NBA title in franchise history.
Gilgeous-Alexander After putting the NBA championship trophy on his head, Gilgeous-Alexander is all over the world and people always ask me where I come from, people always ask me where I come from. ”
“I am proud to let everyone know that I am from Hamilton. I love telling them what Iron City means to me. Hamiltonians have different perseverance, determination and pride and energy than the rest of the province.
“Honestly, I can’t avoid that. I carry it with me every day, so you can only imagine how it is [much] It made me feel overwhelmingly delighted when I found myself receiving the keys to the city I love and the streets named after me. ”
SGA attended two high schools in Hamilton
Gilgeous-Alexander attended school at St. Thomas More and Sir Allan Macnab of Hamilton, before attending his 2017-18 season at the University of Kentucky.
The SGA was then selected as 11th place by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2018 NBA Draft. He was later traded to the draft pick after the Los Angeles Clippers and eventually became the Miles Bridges.
In the 2019 offseason, the Clippers traded Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, five first-round picks, and the right to hand over two other first-round picks to Paul George.
Gilgeous-Alexander won his first NBA MVP last season as he scored 5.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 34.2 minutes per game with his career highs of 32.7 points and 6.4 assists.
For every basketball reference, Gilgeous-Alexander leads the NBA with points (2,484), scores per game, shots (860), shot attempts (1,656), free throws (601), free throws (7.9) and defensive victory (4.8).
In a 123-114 victory over Utah Jazz on January 22, Oklahoma City scored a career-high 54 points (48.6%) in 35 shots (48.6%), scored 3 innings, three points (30%) on the tour and 17 points (94.4%) on the free throw line.
SGA won NBA MVP, Final MVP in the same season
Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 30.3 points in the NBA finals, joining an exclusive player in the same season to win the MVP and the finals MVP.
The only others to achieve this feat are Michael Jordan (four times), LeBron James (twice), Larry Bird (twice), Tim Duncan, Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, Magic Johnson, Magic Johnson, Moses Malone, Kareem Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Willis Reed.
In addition, since O’Neal in 2000, Gilgeous-Alexander has also become the first player to win the same championship and NBA title. The only others who have done this are Jordan (six times) (six times), Abdul-Jabbar, George Mikan (twice) and Joe Fulks.
Last month, SGA and Thunder agreed to a four-year, $285 million super-maximum contract extension. The 27-year-old now has the wealthiest annual salary in NBA history.
