Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's trainer says he reminds him of Kobe Bryant. Picture credits: Imagn
Too early to compare Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s resume to Kobe Bryant.
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s star will play in his first NBA Cup championship game on Tuesday against the Milwaukee Bucks in hopes this foreshadows the beginning of many NBA title runs.
Not too early, however, to compare how both Gilgeous-Alexander and Bryant handled failure. Well before Gilgeous-Alexander secured two NBA All-Star berths, a renowned NBA skills trainer observed Gilgeous-Alexander mirrored the late Lakers’ star in a different way.
Olin Simplis, who has worked with Gilgeous-Alexander since the predraft process in 2018, observed that SGA represented the rare superstar that craved the minutia. So when Gilgeous-Alexander initially struggled with a drill to improve his side-step 3s, he solely focused on refining that drill until he perfected it. That habit reminds Simplis of Bryant, who sometimes devoted part of his intense workouts just on improving his footwork.
