Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Gives Honest Thoughts on Thunder’s Special Whistle Narrative

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander clapped back at the media narratives that claim the OKC Thunder has a special whistle in their games. On Friday, the Thunder suffered a 112-107 loss to the Timberwolves in a regular-season matchup.

The Timberwolves had more fouls called in their favor as they visited the charity line 47 times compared to the Thunder's 30. Following the loss, SGA attended a postgame conference, where Justin Martinez from "The Oklahoman" asked the Thunder star for his thoughts on the special whistle media narratives on days where the stats tell a different story.

"I don’t care, not one bit. I can’t control how the refs blow the whistle ever. I’ve never been able to. Never been a ref. All I can do is play basketball, and that’s all I focus on. Try to win games and win championships," SGA said.

Justin Martinez

@Justintohoops

Minnesota attempted 47 free throws compared to OKC’s 30. I asked Shai Gilgeous-Alexander if the narrative that OKC has a special whistle bothers him, especially on a night when the stats don’t support that: “I don’t care, not one bit. I can’t control how the refs blow the

The Thunder (25-3) have been on an exceptional run as defending champions. They are in first place in the Western Conference standings and have been one of the favorites to win the championship this season.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is also on a quest to repeat his MVP season. The reigning MVP is averaging 32.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game on 55.4% shooting. He is in second place in NBA.com's MVP ladder for this week.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander breaks down what went wrong against the Timberwolves

Earlier in the postgame interview, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was asked for his thoughts on what went wrong in the final quarter of the game. The Thunder star pointed out the few mistakes his side made in the fourth. (Timestamp: 1:03)

"Fouling, rebounding, and then I got blocked and stripped late in the game," he said. "I think like the whole second half, we could have done a better job at rebounding. Giving a team like that extra possessions doesn't help at all. We were doing a good job on the first shot offense, especially when the game is being called that way."

Oklahoma City were evenly matched against Minnesota for the first three quarters, but a few mistakes in the final quarter led to them suffering their third loss of the season. The Timberwolves ended the fourth quarter 29-22 lead.

The Thunder will face the Memphis Grizzlies at home on Monday as their next opponents.