Doris Burke on Tuesday appeared to throw shade at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander without realizing it.
Burke was one of the announcers for the Western Conference Finals Game 1 between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. Gilgeous-Alexander struggled early, missing his first three shot attempts in the contest.
The Thunder star was able to compensate for the slow start by getting to the free throw line. At the 7:38 mark of the first quarter, SGA drew a foul on Julius Randle to earn his sixth and seventh free throws.
After play-by-play announcer Mike Breen highlighted Shai’s high free throw total, Burke made a rather eye-opening comment.
“There’s a reason NBA Twitter likes to call him ‘The Free Throw Merchant,’” Burke said.
Doris Burke called SGA a free throw merchant. pic.twitter.com/NFgnYHCvGw
— NBACentel (@TheNBACentel) May 21, 2025
NBA fans on X are more than likely to be familiar with the term “free throw merchant,” which is a derogatory term used to describe a player who tries to unnaturally bait defenders into fouls. Critics of Gilgeous-Alexander often use the term to demean the MVP frontrunner.
Given the way Burke phrased her statement about SGA, it sounded like she may have thought the term was complimentary. She even used “the” instead of “a,” which hints at her possibly confusing the term for a nickname that highlights Shai’s free-throw-generating prowess.
Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 8.8 free throw attempts per game during the regular season, which ranked third behind post players Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid. Instead of using sheer strength and size to draw foul shots like Giannis or Embiid, SGA utilizes his shifty handles to get defenders in awkward positions.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s tactics often get on the nerves of opposing players and fans alike. Even Anthony Edwards lost his cool on Tuesday after seemingly objecting to a foul that Shai drew against him.
The Thunder star scored 31 points and went 11/14 from the free throw line in Game 1 en route to a 114-88 victory.
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