In his spare time, Gilgeous-Alexander would hoop with Montoya and Castillanes at their Filipino basketball league — the beginning of a basketball odyssey. Gilgeous-Alexander spent his sophomore yr at Sir Allan MacNab Secondary Faculty on Hamilton’s west aspect earlier than he transferred once more, this time to Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in Chattanooga, Tenn., as he sought higher competitors.
Gilgeous-Alexander finally landed on the College of Kentucky, the place John Calipari, the crew’s coach, knew he wanted to be powerful on him. In any other case, Calipari was going to listen to about it — from Gilgeous-Alexander’s mom, Charmaine Gilgeous, a former Olympic runner for Antigua and Barbuda.
“When he performed nicely, she would name me and say, ‘Don’t you let up on him,’” Calipari mentioned.
Gilgeous-Alexander had arrived at Kentucky with a hitch in his soar shot — Calipari in contrast it to Charles Barkley’s herky-jerky golf swing — and spent the early weeks of the season principally coming off the bench. By the center of January, he was blossoming as a starter. By June, he was the eleventh general decide within the 2018 N.B.A. draft, headed to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Gilgeous-Alexander performed so nicely as a rookie that the Thunder put him on their want record. That summer season, when the All-Star Paul George needed to be traded to the Clippers from Oklahoma Metropolis, the Thunder insisted that Gilgeous-Alexander be included within the deal.
Now in his fourth season with the Thunder, Gilgeous-Alexander is the face of a franchise that ought to come geared up with coaching wheels. Though Chet Holmgren, the No. 2 general decide within the 2022 draft, is out for the season with a foot damage, the Thunder have a core that features Josh Giddey, 20, and Luguentz Dort, 23. Even amid his emergence, Gilgeous-Alexander has by no means sought to separate himself from his teammates.
“I may need sworn at Lu earlier than,” Gilgeous-Alexander mentioned, “however me and Lu lived collectively, and we’re like brothers so it doesn’t depend.”
