SGA drops a truth bomb about how winning the championship changed his perspective

Head coach Mark Daigneault noticed a change in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the midst of an impressive five-game winning streak. After big wins against the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets, Gilgeous-Alexander revealed how last year’s championship run changed his perspective on winning.

Gilgeous-Alexander explained the ups and downs of the Thunder’s title run last season changed the way of thinking starts the 2025-26 campaign.

“It’s completely changed, I think, in terms of my perspective. Playing at such a high level, playing when the games are so important, when you’re so close so far from your ultimate dream as a kid. It’s very hard to understand without going through it,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “The emotions, the confusion; everything that goes into it. And I think just going through those experiences — and I think everyone will tell you that their perspective is completely different.”

“It changes the way you see things. It’s almost like having a child. You don’t know what it’s like until you have one.”

The Thunder improved to 35-7.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the Thunder’s mid-streak refocus

After a 12-game streak in which Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder were 6-6, the defending champions have won five straight, including against the Western Conference’s top two teams. After that The Thunder avenged their loss to the Spurs with the way they hitGilgeous-Alexander discussed what it meant to beat a team that handed OKC three losses in December.

“Tonight’s result tells us that when we play a certain way, with a certain sense of urgency, with a certain sense of force and aggression, and attention to detail, it doesn’t matter who’s on the other side,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I think we knew that about this group, and it’s just about getting to that point without having to lose or get pushed there. And it’s not like we haven’t done it before, we’ve done it multiple times.”

“But I think the more we can get ourselves into that mental frame, the better we’ll be for sure. Tonight was nothing I didn’t expect. I knew if we played a certain way we could beat anybody in the world.”

The Thunder will look to extend their winning streak when they face the Heat on Saturday.