Bill Simmons claims Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gets foul calls no one else does

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the man of the moment in the NBA. He scored 31 points to help the Oklahoma City Thunder grab a 1-0 lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals. However, he's receiving a lot more than just praise for his performance.

SGA has been subjected to chants of 'free-throw merchant' at various points this season. His ability to create contact and sell foul calls has helped him average nearly nine free-throw attempts per game this season. And while that usually dries up in the playoffs, Bill Simmons doesn't think it has for the presumptive MVP.

"I don’t care who wins this game," Simmons wrote in a post on X. "The touch foul calls SGA gets are really awful. They don’t resemble anything else that’s happening in the playoffs."

Gilgeous-Alexander attempted 14 free throws on the night, and even the Timberwolves' players were visibly frustrated with his whistle. A few clips on Twitter even show how Gilgeous-Alexander initiated the contact to get fouls.

The NBA playoffs are notorious for vastly more physical basketball than the regular season. Officials tend to let the players play and don't call too many touch fouls.

This hasn't affected Gilgeous-Alexander's ability to get to the line, though. And that's what is leading to frustration for fans and analysts alike.

Even though he tends to embellish contact once in a while, Gilgeous-Alexander's production is a lot more than just free throws. He is likely to win MVP, and if he can add a Finals MVP to that, then he will successfully be able to block out all the noise about his game.

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Bill Simmons claims Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gets foul calls no one else in the NBA playoffs does

By Divij Kulkarni | 9:31 AM EDT