NBA
Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander aspires to be better than the late-great Kobe Bryant
Zach Wolpin is an NBA and NFL expert who's been betting on the league for over three years now. Wolpin has been a fan of the NBA and has been watching for a decade and a half. He covers the latest news and stories surrounding the league daily. His passion in life is watching sports and being able to share that through his sports writing. He has written about the NBA and other sports leagues through various media outlets over the years like Sir Charles In Charge, G-Men HQ, and TAP into South Plainfield. Before he became an NBA News Writer, Wolpin attended Montclair State University where he graduated in 2021. He studied Sports Media and Writing while in school.
All posts by Zach WolpinUpdated7 hours ago on October 14, 2025
With a 68-14 record in 2024-25, the Thunder earned the #1 seed in the West playoffs. Oklahoma City went on an impressive run to the NBA Finals. One-time NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the team.
It was a dominant season for the Thunder as a team and for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on an individual level. On top of winning the NBA Finals, SGA earned an all-star selection, All-NBA first-team, 2024-25 scoring champ, NBA MVP, and Finals MVP honors. In a recent interview with GQ Magazine, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said, “If you’re asking me if I want to be better than Kobe, of course I do.”
Can SGA continue this career path and become one of the greats?
SGA says he wants to be better than Kobe
“I pick up a basketball to be the best. If you’re asking me if I want to be better than Kobe, of course I do. Whether I get there or not, we’ll find out.”
(Via @GQMagazine / h/t @TalkBasket ) pic.twitter.com/CpXE41LWAD
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 13, 2025
The 2025-26 season will be Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 8th year in the NBA. It will be his seventh season with the Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander began his career as a member of the Clippers. After one season, Los Angeles traded SGA in a deal to the Clippers to acquire Paul George. Since that deal happened, the trade has undoubtedly favored Oklahoma City. The Clippers gave up on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander too quickly. They never truly got to see their former #11 overall pick develop.
However, Oklahoma City was willing to be patient and let Shai Gilgeous-Alexander become one of the league’s best players. By the 2022-23 season, SGA was averaging over 30+ points per game for the Thunder. He’s accomplished that feat in three consecutive seasons, including a career-high 32.7 points per game in 2024-25. That also led all NBA players last season. That was enough for SGA to earn MVP honors in 2024-25.
The cover of the November issue of GQ:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. pic.twitter.com/L1eSeYKXV9
— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) October 13, 2025
Recently, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was interviewed by GQ Magazine. SGA mentioned that he strives to be the greatest when he’s on the court. Additionally, he mentioned having a better career than Kobe Bryant. That will be an incredibly tough challenge for the young PG. During his 20-year NBA career, Kobe Bryant was an 18-time all-star, five-time NBA champion, 15-time All-NBA, two-time scoring champion, two-time Finals MVP, and one-time NBA MVP.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has a long way to go to catch up to Kobe Bryant. OKC’s franchise PG does have Bryant beat in one aspect of their career path. Kobe has one league MVP to his name. He won the award in 2007-08, accomplishing that feat in his 12th season. In 2024-25, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won MVP in his seventh professional season. SGA has plenty of catching up to do for all-star and All-NBA selections. How much hardware will Shai Gilgeous-Alexander add to his trophy case before his career is over?
