Shai Gilgeous-Alexander told TIME magazine he is the best player in the NBA. Himself. In a magazine. I read it on BasketNews and I felt for the PA system.
Because a line like that is my job. Give me that on a Saturday at half past eight, I switch off half the lights, the caretaker does the other half if he’s in a good mood, and off I go:
“Mesdames et messieurs, dames en heren. Production night after night. Efficiency. His share of the winning these past two seasons. At point guard, the best player in the NBA, according to himself… [two seconds of blank] … Shai! [jingle] Make some noise.”
There. That’s a moment. He just said it in an interview. He even talked about the fans who accuse him of flopping and call him a “foul merchant”, and he answered that basketball has done wonderful things for his life and his family’s, and that if a narrative on social media is the worst of it, he’ll take that a million times out of a million. A million times out of a million. You know what I do with a line like that? I put it on in the background during the time-out.
A presentation comes before the tip-off. Not in a magazine. Noted.
The NBA: a player who announces himself, and you read it in a magazine. Me, I’d at least have lent him the two school fête spotlights. Just saying.
It’s true, we checked: BasketNews.
