We have been missing a good villain lately I guess.

This dude thinks we’re watching the games on tv

The free throws aren’t actually what people don’t like, it’s the playing for the whistle. I thought the league was going to crack down on flopping or offensive players initiating contact to draw foul calls. That didn’t even last an entire season before the refs either forgot or stopped caring.

You know what Shai, why don’t you shut up with your logical train of thought and confidence and money and well adjusted response to all these assholes, okay?

I mean we literally just saw it last night. 19 free throws for Luka and nobody gave a shit.

Damn, did he just call us a bunch of broke haters? Gotta respect it 😂

It makes it a worse product Shai. We aren’t tuning in to watch flopping.

“they watch it on TV”

People who deny the depth to Shai’s game and reduce it to foul-baiting give me the exact opposite impression.

SGA said you know what? Fuck ya’ll I’m rich

Hmm. Alright fine. I don’t really like Shai but I gotta respect that.

You play to win the game. Getting to the line wins games. Can’t blame him for doing what it takes to eke out wins.

I wish refs called fewer ticky tacky things but that’s not SGA’s fault that they do.

Sixers fan here to complain about watching boring ass games of Embiid shooting 25 free throws.

SGA is 28th in free throw rate this season. Ya’ll smooth brains look at FTAs with no regard to attempts or drives.

Bunch or sore losers online going wah wah too many freethrows.

Shai is a good rival to Wemby

I think plenty of fans complain about the current style of foul baiting, regardless of who they cheer for. I don’t mind players getting to the line (MJ, Kobe, Shaq, Giannis, Lebron and every superstar player with physical advantages has done so very well in the modern game).

The issue that I and I think many fans have is when players create minor contact by entering into a defender’s space when nobody has even left their feet yet. So a player has his hands out to his sides and you stick your arms/ball under them and then rise up. Or a player has their hands up and you swing the ball across their arms to draw the foul on your way to the hoop. Or a player is staying step for step with you on your drive toward the basket, and you force your body into theirs and then recoil back for the shot with the intent to draw contact. It’s annoying for the defenders, it’s annoying to watch, and it’s also just not reflective of how the game is played anywhere but the NBA. In a pickup game, people would tell you to get the fuck out of here if you tried to call a foul on any of that. We’ve always had the pump faking to draw the defender in the air, but at least there you actually had to get the defender to make a mistake. In some of these other scenarios, the defender literally can’t do anything without getting called for the foul.

I haven’t watched a full NBA game in 2 seasons now. I did turn on the last few minutes of Bam’s 83 point game but NBA games aren’t worth the time investment as I’ve gotten older and the quality has gone down.

People aren’t watching SGA on tv

They’re watching clips of his foul merchanting online

“hate me or love me, you watched”

how does the internet work?

I can’t with his overly optimistic, turn all negatives into positives attitude. 😂

Growing up in the 80s as Pistons fan born and raised in Michigan I hated how Larry Bird had the best whistle in the NBA and thought that it was completely unfair to other teams, because he was already arguably the very best player in the NBA AND the Celtics had arguably the best overall team in the league too, so to also get all-time great calls from the officials made me extremely mad and me feel like the system was somewhat rigged or at least extremely preferential.

But even after all that Bird and McHale were still my favorite two players that weren’t Pistons, because they were so great, exciting, entertaining, gritty, tough, unique and had a great style of play and amazing aura.

I absolutely LOVE SGA and the Thunder even though I also HATE how the league officiates, coddles, and favors him in a ridiculously biased and completely unfair manner imo.

Shai is one of the all-time best players in professional team sports history. I thoroughly enjoy watching him play and feel lucky that I’ve had the opportunity to watch his entire career. The NBA League Office and their officials are the problem imo, not SGA.

Nice cope SGA

This dude is so ass 💔

Mayweather playbook

Most people aren’t aware that Shai led the Julliard School of Arts, where he learned his acting skills, to their first ever NCAA men’s tournament appearance in school history.

business is boomin’!

He plays the heel so well. I hate watching him but I gotta respect it. I like this response way more than hardens was.

😂 Got Em! So, keep complaining fans yall are just making him more popular

Turning the game off and canceling your TV subscription is bad for the game.

Going online to complain, while driving engagement and views, is ironically still good for the game.

You decide.

It makes it worse for me that the broadcast commentary makes excuses for the calls. I don’t care if he is good at drawing contact. If he initiated and struck first it shouldn’t be a defensive foul.

How this league ends up being the Samurais vs. Ninjas, is beyond me

Damn, such an uncharismatic thing to say

Bro must’ve not got the memo this is a highlights league now.

I only consume NBA on my Apple Watch when I’m scrolling tik tok on my phone while watching a Netflix show.

Lmfao dude had quite literally the most unlikable response to this. You have to respect it honestly

Problem is people don’t watch it because of all the free throws

This dude thinks people watch legally

This dude sucks

He had me until the ‘fun’ part

I mean it doesn’t really make sense, I specifically don’t watch thunder games because of the free throws lol

That said I do watch lakers games for the free throws so maybe I’m still a chud

That’s exactly why we don’t watch you

Jokic doesn’t get free throws .

I kind of understand where he’s coming from, but I feel like the -established- fans are the ones who care, while the free throws push newer fans away

I’m 100% sure the league’s valuation is propped up on some over inflated viewing numbers. nobody watches this sport live. everyone just looks at the free highlights or compilations. there’s a forming and with the existing recession it’ll pop sooner rather than later

Fans complain cause they can’t think for themselves. Too easily influenced by the hivemind.

Its funny to just imagine Adam silver using the Shai foul bait engagement numbers in his metrics that he presents to his shareholders to show company growth. I 100% think he does btw.

spoken like a true merchant

I do not seek out thunder games to watch SGA lol

Business Merchant…

He ain’t lying

It’s the opposite? Fans watch clips and get turned off from watching games 

Clown.

Lmao what a dumb response. Nobody who isn’t an OKC fan is watching your games legally, if at all. What a goober. Most people watch highlights or just track box stats after games. The majority of people who hate on him just see the stats after the game and see another 20fts and just use that to rekindle their hatred

He’s more out of touch with reality than I thought

I stopped watching because of the free throws lol

I really do hate OKC.

making money merchant

This man can do nor say anything wrong in my eyes. Very introspective dude

This is not the new face of the nba

Grrr, know I’ll hatewatch each and everyone one of those FTs. But it is for the good of the game, just know I WONT be enjoy it

Actually less people watch which is why the Thunders vs Pacers had so little views despite NBA overall having a surge in ratings

People complain because it’s jarring to see one guy keep getting soft touch fouls while on other end Dort and Caruso are practicing wrestling moves on the other team

“The 2025 NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers averaged 10.27 million viewers, marking one of the lowest-rated Finals in recent history.”

Feminine response

It’s a good answer, and he’s right. No one complains when THEIR favorite player has 15 free throws. But God, he is so media trained it’s almost painful to listen too. It feels like I’m reading an official statement straight from Adam Silver

Actually I don’t watch you SGA because you’re unbearable to watch

Luckily i don’t watch your games FTA, it’s only when you play the Spurs

He is apart of the least watched nba finals that’s not the Covid years of 2020-2021. I don’t think more people are hate watching

Nobody is ever complaining about a team free throw gap disparity between OKC and XYZ team though. The biggest problem the average (actual) NBA watcher has when their team plays the Thunder is the way that guys like Dort and Caruso among others are allowed to defend. They get away with a level of physicality that most teams do not get; the problem is no-calls against the Thunder that other teams don’t get, not overly excessive calls.

SGA has mastered the art of using the defender’s body to draw fouls in a way the average player does not. He’s one among a handful of guys who are exceptionally good at this (Brunson, Harden, etc.), and at this point it’s just an actual skill and IMO is hard to hold against them as the referees have made it clear that those are fouls. Can’t even be mad about that, IMO the biggest problem with refereeing RE: the Thunder is that their defenders are allowed to play like linebackers out there.

Edit: the way Thunder fans react to shit like this is so so so telling.

Luka > Shai