After falling to France in the 2024 Olympics quarterfinals, Jordi Fernandez singled out Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He wanted the best player in program history to address Canada. The little snippet from last year’s Netflix NBA documentary showed a sneak peek of their locker room dynamics.
Just like on the Oklahoma City Thunder, Gilgeous-Alexander likes to lead by example. The two-time MVP winner has carved out a legendary career. He’s well on his way to being an all-time great — if he’s not there already, considering how stacked his resume is.
Not only are the Thunder amid the golden era of their rich history, but so is Canada — whose basketball history is pretty bare. Gilgeous-Alexander has helped the country finish bronze in the 2023 FIBA World Cup and in fifth place in the 2024 Olympics.
Alongside plenty of NBA talent in a renaissance, Canada has been one of the big boys at the international table. As long as Gilgeous-Alexander is at the peak of his powers, they’ll always be in the conversation for being a sneaky wildcard who could make deep runs on the international stage.
One of Gilgeous-Alexander’s superpowers is his consistency. No matter the opponent or environment, you can always guarantee him suiting up and an efficient 30 points. As long as he rolls out of bed and shows up to the arena, he’ll be your top leading scorer. Canada has experienced that every time he suits up for his home country.
Point in case — the last two games in Canada’s 2026 FIBA World Cup qualifier. Look, they don’t need Gilgeous-Alexander to punch their ticket for next summer’s event. But the 27-year-old has gone out of his way to suit up anyway. Just a month after the Thunder were booted out of the NBA playoffs.
Incentivized to play in front of his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, Gilgeous-Alexander was one of the few NBA players to play at a couple of glorified exhibitions. No offense to Puerto Rico and Jamaica, but the talent gap between them and Canada was noticeable from the jump. Unsurprisingly, both were blowout wins for Canada.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored an efficient 26 points over Puerto Rico and 16 points and four steals in another lopsided victory over Jamaica. That should be about it for the 27-year-old this summer. He made a cameo appearance to play on a court that had his logos plastered all over to honor Hamilton’s favorite child.
And according to Dillon Brooks, Gilgeous-Alexander has been a superb leader. Both were named co-captains for the program. He detailed it after Canada’s win over Jamaica. Just two months after both were on opposite sides in an intense NBA playoff series sweep, they’re back to being on the same side as prideful Canadians.
“I think it meshes well. I’m the fiery, passionate, maybe outspoken leader. He’s a more cool, calm and collected,” Brooks said. “We can relate to different players on the team and give our input in. I feel like most of the players will attentively listen and be ready to play hard for Canada.”
Cool to see Brooks’ opinion on Gilgeous-Alexander. Both have grown up in the basketball world together. And even when Brooks plays into his NBA villain gimmick on the court, he can turn that off and also appreciate how he’s handled being the greatest Canadian player ever.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Dillon Brooks details Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s leadership for Canada
About the Author
