The skinny kid from Hamilton has established himself as an icon across sports and culture, and one of the greatest NBA legends of all time.
It’s hard to guess. It’s a milestone for Canadian basketball that no one has seen coming, even as our national presence in the NBA continues to come in waves.
But Gilgeous-Alexander signaled it again Thursday when he converted a 20-foot jumper at the 7:04 mark of the third quarter against Boston to tie the game at 127.Day Back-to-back games of 20 or more points means he’s on track to be routinely cited as one of the best players to ever play.
Chamberlain held the previous record for at least 20 points, with 126, which ended on Jan. 20, 1963, when the then-San Francisco Warriors star was ejected in the first quarter of a game for arguing with a referee.
Looking at Gilgeous-Alexander’s progress, it seems like only injury or bad luck can threaten his current performance. But whenever it ends, it will be nothing more than an interesting anecdote in his still-unfolding basketball biography.
The 20-point streak was one of the prolific Chamberlain’s lesser-known records until recently, a forgotten footnote until the OKC star’s sustained excellence pulled Chamberlain’s milestone from behind the spare light bulbs and paper towels in the far reaches of the stats closet.
But for Gilgeous-Alexander, who maintained OKC’s 104-102 win over the Celtics atop the Western Conference standings, this will surely be another paragraph on what will surely be a Hall of Fame resume.
“It’s still too much to wrap my head around,” Gilgeous-Alexander told reporters earlier this week after tying Chamberlain’s 63-year record. “To be honest, especially during the season, I try not to even think about it. Ultimately, there’s so much going on and so many things have to go right to get what you want.”
“But obviously having a conversation with someone like (Chamberlain) is special.”
Gilgeous-Alexander showed no emotion after breaking the record, and he showed no more when he hit back-to-back jumpers that gave the Thunder the lead in the final minute. Thunder big man Chet Holmgren scored the winning point with 0.8 seconds left on the clock.
Setting a Chamberlain record is like hitting Babe Ruth in baseball or Wayne Gretzky in hockey.
Chamberlain is the only player in NBA history to average 50 points per game in a season. Or score 100 points in one game. or seven-time NBA scoring leader; or 11 rebounds; Or an average of 22.9 rebounds per game. For your career.
And in case you were wondering, his record for consecutive 30-point games remains at 65.
But tonight, Gilgeous-Alexander took center stage.
For context, the streak of 20 or more points belongs to Kawhi Leonard (43 points). The closest active player is Kevin Durant, who has scored in 72 consecutive games. LeBron James set an NBA record with 1,297 consecutive games with at least 10 points per game, a streak that ended in Toronto earlier this season. However, the longest streak of 20-point nights among NBA all-time leading scorers peaked at 49 points.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s streak was never flawless. There is no chasing or stat padding.
According to Tom Haberstroh of Yahoo Sports, Gilgeous-Alexander had 20 points before the 39th in the fourth quarter heading into Thursday.
More importantly, Gilgeous-Alexander’s record-breaking streak spanned two of the greatest individual seasons a player has ever had while leading one of the best teams in the NBA.
Over 131 games over the past two seasons combined, Gilgeous Alexander has averaged 32.3 points, 6.5 assists and 1.6 steals while posting a true shooting percentage (which reflects the value of 2-pointers, 3-pointers and free throws) of 64.9.
No other NBA player, including Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, and James, can match his combination of offensive volume and efficiency.
Only five players – Jordan, James Harden, Luka Doncic and Damian Lillard – averaged 31 points and 6 assists with a true shooting grade of 60.0 or higher. No one has done that while averaging just 2.3 turnovers per game like Gilgeous-Alexander.
To put it another way, remember when Stephen Curry completely turned basketball around, winning his first MVP award and leading the Golden State Warriors to their first title in 2014-15 while shooting 44.3 percent from 3-point range on eight-plus attempts a game?
Well, during his streak, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged nine more points per game than Curry (23.8) in his first MVP year and was more efficient than Curry in posting one of the best shooting seasons in NBA history.
Even the late Chamberlain would nod knowingly.
But perhaps what’s most relevant about Gilgeous-Alexander’s new record is that it will simply be an exciting milestone for the Canadian guard rather than a definitive accomplishment.
Since Gilgeous-Alexander started the streak by scoring 30 points in 28 minutes in a win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Nov. 1, 2024, the OKC star has won an NBA scoring title, a regular season MVP award, a Western Conference MVP award and a Finals MVP award.
Barring an injury, Gilgeous-Alexander will almost certainly win the MVP award again, and the Thunder remain favorites to win a second straight NBA title with Gilgeous-Alexander as the presumptive Finals MVP. Only James, Jordan and Larry Bird have done that.
If he took up snooker and never played basketball again, he would already be in the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Famer is a candidate for the greatest Canadian basketball player of all time and the greatest Canadian athlete of all time.
But Gilgeous-Alexander is only 27 years old. The organization he works for is providing a masterclass in the modern era of sports. In a league designed to make dynasties short-lived, the Thunder are young, agile and ready for the long haul.
Success in the NBA can come and go like waves rising and crashing on a deserted beach.
But if you had to bet on whether Gilgeous-Alexander was closer to the start or the end of a long run as a dominant force on a dominant team, the smart money would know where he would end up.
That said, who knows what honors and accomplishments Gilgeous-Alexander will achieve during his prime and in the five years that follow.
It’s almost certain that what he did Thursday night – knocking Wilt Chamberlain off the pages of the history books – will be an emblem over the course of his career.
Ultimately, this athlete is an athlete whose motto is ‘My life is steady.’
It’s unclear whether Gilgeous-Alexander first provided this quote in its entirety, but it comes from an on-court interview he gave to Thunder sideline reporter Nick Gallo on March 9, 2024, the night of his 47th birthday.Day He broke Durant’s Thunder record with a 30-point game. At this point it became his personal tagline.
The first I heard about it was after Gilgeous-Alexander helped the Thunder to a double overtime win over the Toronto Raptors a month ago.
On the eve of making history, where he would achieve the minimum level of excellence for nearly two seasons, this rings truer than ever.
“I’m very strict about consistency in all aspects of my life,” Gilgeous-Alexander told me after a game on February 4, 2024. “And I think that helps my basketball. Whether it’s what I eat, my daily schedule, how clean my house is, how I spend my time, whether I’m playing or not. I try to be very disciplined and I try to be consistent. I think it helps with basketball.”
What is Gilgeous-Alexander’s ‘how’ to greatness? His skills coach, Nate Mitchell, explained to me his client’s Kobe Bryant-like passion for the improvement process during the offseason: “Nothing changes. You don’t have to bend over. You can lose your phone and I know where I can take him to three different places (each day) on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. It’s like, he’s going to be stiff on time, at the same time.”
So what’s here? A 6-foot-6 point guard with long arms who can dribble like a prime Muggsy Bogues, shoot like a prime Lillard, change direction like Gumby, and train like Rocky Balboa?
All of this means that Gilgeous-Alexander being drafted in the same sentence as Chamberlain won’t be the last time he and a short list of NBA greats are side by side in word and deed.
No one knows where the march ends.
