Interviews
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Is The Young Professional Returning To The Courts?
Jemima Hunter
July 5, 2021
Canadian, professional basketball player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hasn’t returned for the remainder of the season due to Covid restrictions but has been using lockdown to master his other skills and prepare for a future of success on the courts.
The Toronto born player grew up within an active family, which created in him a desire to enter the sports world from the get-go. Gilgeous-Alexander’s Olympian mother sprinted the women’s four hundred metre race in 1992. The basketball icon was often coached, as an adolescent, by his father too. Gilgeous-Alexander switched schools to Hamilton Heights for his senior years in order to master the technique of basketball, as it had always been a passion of his. Even as a youngster he was committed to becoming the best. ‘I just thought I needed to play better competition.’
Before graduating, Gilgeous-Alexander attended the Basketball Without Borders Camp, a global camp that’s a real jackpot for scouts, organised by NBA collaboratively with FIBA. In 2016, the basketball fanatic joined the Florida Gators Men’s Basketball Team having been recruited by the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network but later decided to play at college for The Kentucky Wildcats Men’s Basketball Team.
Two years later, Gilgeous-Alexander played the NBA Draft and was selected by the North Carolinian Charlotte Hornets, before being exchanged by The Los Angeles Clippers, which enabled him to grow as a professional basketball player and learn the tricks of the trade. After competing in representative leagues over the years, at only twenty-two Gilgeous-Alexander has already signed a contract with Converse, traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder Team and was named one of the top ten most promising young NBA players of 2020!
Gilgeous-Alexander has also taken an interest in fashion and TikTok, in addition to throwing hoops, which has created quite the storm in the internet community. With now 1M followers on Instagram and 100k on TikTok, the basketball devotee, would love to potentially create a fashion label in the years to come. ‘I’ve drawn a little bit—clothing pieces and stuff like that. Something that I’ve thought about and would definitely love to bring to life.’
After suffering with a significant tear from Plantar Fasciitis, Gilgeous-Alexander plans to start training again in Autumn, as he is now unable to attend the Tokyo Olympics this summer, which he had been preparing for. At such a young age, Gilgeous-Alexander is on the rise, climbing his way up the NBA ladder, to shoot some more outstanding hoops and show how important a quality determination is in order to be victorious.
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