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[Saba Sports News] Doris Burke may have unknowingly taken a dig at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander during Tuesday’s Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.
Burke was on the call for ESPN as the Oklahoma City Thunder hosted the Minnesota Timberwolves at Paycom Center. Gilgeous-Alexander got off to a rocky start, missing his first three shots from the field. But the Thunder star quickly found his rhythm at the free throw line, drawing foul after foul to keep the scoreboard moving.
At the 7:38 mark of the first quarter, SGA drew a foul on Julius Randle, earning his sixth and seventh free throws. As play-by-play voice Mike Breen pointed out the high volume of trips to the line, Burke chimed in with a remark that raised some eyebrows.
Her comment resembled the popular online jab “free throw merchant” — a term often used to criticize players who rely heavily on drawing fouls rather than scoring through traditional means. Gilgeous-Alexander, a known target of that label, is often accused by detractors of baiting defenders into fouls.
What caught fans off guard was that Burke appeared to use the phrase in earnest, even calling SGA “the free throw merchant” as if it were a compliment or established nickname — not realizing the term’s sarcastic origin.
Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 8.8 free throw attempts per game in the regular season, ranking third behind Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid. Unlike those power-driven big men, SGA earns his trips to the line with finesse, using clever footwork and deceptive ball handling to force defenders into fouls.
Though his methods frustrate opponents and fans alike — Anthony Edwards showed visible annoyance after one such foul on Tuesday — there’s no denying their effectiveness. Gilgeous-Alexander finished Game 1 with 31 points, going 11-of-14 from the line, and helped the Thunder cruise to a dominant 114-88 win.