The Oklahoma City Thunder got obliterated last night in Milwaukee. The 1st quarter was promising enough; contesting shots, getting out in transition, crisp and unselfish ball movement. The 2nd quarter was more of the same, and the Thunder entered halftime trailing just 1 point.
Then the wheels came off.
The Thunder were doubled in scoring in the 3rd quarter, 34-17. We looked, one might say, like a deer in headlights. And that was all she wrote.
It was, let’s politely say, an uncharacteristic game for the Thunder.
Chet Holmgren had been on a tear of late, but folded against the Bucks, shooting 1-10 from the field. Josh Giddey had arguably his best game of the season with 19 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists, all while shooting 4-6 from 3. Not much bench production, poor all-around shooting, and just playing shell shocked.
Then the coup de grace: our MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had what could be one of the worst games of his career scoring 12 points on 5-12 shooting, and turning the ball over 4 times.
There could be a few reasons to explain Shai’s recent struggles. One could argue that while Shai hasn’t directly been effected by the “prison ball” initiative enacted by the refs post All-Star break, the lack of in-game stoppage, in general, can take some adjusting to.
Another one could be the flying knee Shai took to his quad from John Collins on March 20th, which has really affected him, as evidenced by the KT tape he’s been wearing on his right leg, despite not missing any time.
There is, however, another possible correlation to Shai’s less than stellar play. It’s been called random, it’s been called a reach, and it’s the very thing with the power to send Dorothy safely back to Kansas after her misadventures in Oz… Red shoes.
Hear me out, I know it’s an odd thing to point to. And, full disclosure, I’m not even sure why I thought of it in the first place. Yet way back in 2021 when Shai first donned the scarlet sneakers, I theorized this on twitter.
Since that tweet, any time Shai’s having a bad game, myself (and other members of Thunder twitter) immediately look down, only to be blinded, like Spanish bulls, by the rage of the red colored shoes. Sometimes, even before games, I’d get tagged in the warmup pictures showing that he has red shoes on. Like it’s an omen of what’s to come.
But that was just a 5 game sample size, in the tanking years, no less. Surely it can’t be that bad, right?
Wrong.
After DEEP research (I’m talking going back through every. Single. Game. Shai has played in since 2021 and looking at his shoes), I have come to find out that the data does in fact support my hypothesis.
And it’s honestly worse than I thought.
In 171 games played without red shoes, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander puts up stats that have led to him being an All-NBA player and an MVP candidate: 29.7 points, 51% field goal, 34% three point, 87% free throw, 5.1 rebounds, 6.1 assists vs 2.1 turnovers, 1.8 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game.
That’s the good. Strap yourself in, because here comes the bad. In the 22 games played in his red shoes, those numbers fall off of a cliff: 24.1 points, 46% field goal, 29% three point, 88% free throw (small victories), 5.7 rebounds (stacking wins), 4.5 assists vs 2.6 turnovers, 1.2 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game.
Men lie, women lie, numbers do not, and neither do those cursed cherry cleats (had to for alliteration purposes).
These are the individual numbers. Unfortunately, they don’t tell the full story after all.
It gets worse.
When Shai doesn’t wear the red shoes, the Thunder are 91-79, with a win percentage of 53.5%.
When Shai does decide to put on the villainous vermillions… (no shoe words that start with “v”) shoes, the Thunder are 6-16, with a win percentage of 27.3%.
It’s still a small sample size in the grand scheme of it all, but honestly I AM GLAD. That means that 89% of the time, Shai makes the right choice and doesn’t even leave it up to chance.
It also happens to be what Shai was wearing the night the *only* buzzer beater has been hit on OKC in the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander era.
You can tell me I’m reaching and I might be. You can say the shoes can’t be cursed, of which you’re probably right. But if I’m the equipment manger for the Oklahoma City Thunder and I see Shai bringing in shoes that have any remnants of ruby on them, why tempt the basketball gods? “Misplace” them immediately.
At the end of the day, the Thunder are a special team and Shai is a special player. In an era full of side pieces, side arms, and sideline out of bound wizards, if the most problematic thing about our franchise player is a shoe reverse Space Jam’s your talent, we should honestly count our blessing as fans, and be thankful that he represents our favorite team.
But seriously Shai, leave the red in Canada from now on, eh?