If you’ve been on social media recently, you’ve probably seen the quote from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander about LeBron James.
In short, Gilgeous-Alexander talked about James and how he didn’t really grow up idolizing him. From just the snippet that made the rounds on Twitter, it’s easy to see how someone can interpret it as a shot at James.
But that wasn’t the case when reading and listening to the full quote, which appeared in Gilgeous-Alexander’s mini-documentary on the league’s “Pass The Rock” series.
When the interviewer prompted Gilgeous-Alexander by saying he was his idol growing up, he disagreed and said his style of play never matched James’.
“I never liked (LeBron’s) game,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “To me, when I was younger, he was just super athletic, I wasn’t that. He was 6-foot-8 and super strong and I wasn’t that either. So I never related. (I was more of a Kobe fan). He just kills you with skill.”
Gilgeous-Alexander was not throwing shade at James. All he did was say that his style of play never really mirrored James’ and Kobe Bryant is a more accurate example, which is a fair assessment to make.
Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t athletically gifted enough to dominate the league, so he relies on refined mechanics to slither his way to the basket and draw fouls.
In fact, in that same sound bite, Gilgeous-Alexander complimented James’ longevity at remaining one of the best players in the league well into his 30s, noting he thinks he can continue to do it for several more seasons.
“The way it’s looking as long as he wants,” Gilgeous-Alexander on how much longer James can play at this level. “He’s averaging 30. So usually players trickle a little bit, so if he averaged 26 next year, then he averages 24, then he averaged 20, he’s still got four years from now. … He can still do it as long as he wants.”
So while it’s easy to see why that Gilgeous-Alexander quote could be viewed as a dig at James, it’s more about him knowing his strengths and weaknesses.
Recontextualizing quotes is the name of the game. It’s an efficient way to gain engagement on social media. I just hope this piece does a good job of fully contextualizing what Gilgeous-Alexander said when he talked about James in his 13-minute documentary.
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