Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was hilariously called a ‘free-throw merchant’ live on air

The Western Conference Finals began in Oklahoma City on Tuesday night as the Thunder grabbed a Game 1 victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the hero of the evening, scoring 31 points and providing nine assists in a 114-88 blowout win.

Despite the love that SGA received for his performance, it also came with a lot of criticism. He shot poorly from the field, making only 37 percent of his field goal attempts and failing to hit a single three-pointer. 11 of his 31 points came from the free-throw line. And it resulted in a hilarious call-out.

In the first quarter, the presumptive MVP had already attempted seven free throws within the first five minutes of the game. And Doris Burke, co-commentating alongside Mike Breen and Richard Jefferson, made a hilarious comment after his 5th made free throw.

"He's taken seven free throws already in four and a half minutes," Breen pointed out. To which Burke replied, "There's a reason that NBA Twitter likes to call him a free-throw merchant, Mike."

Gilgeous-Alexander averaged the second-highest free-throw attempts per game during this regular season. He took 8.8 per game, a fairly high number for a guard. His style of play involves a lot of driving, so it makes sense, but some of the calls he gets could be seen as questionable.

When it's time for the playoffs, though, only one thing matters. It's all about winning, and Shai led his team to a needed victory as they protected homecourt during Game 1. If he can deliver the OKC Thunder their first-ever NBA championship, all these criticisms will cease to matter entirely.

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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was hilariously called a ‘free-throw merchant’ live on air during Game 1

By Divij Kulkarni | 9:30 AM EDT