LA Clippers: Patrick Beverley advocates for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as ROTY
By Matt Chong
Patrick Beverley minces no words as he puts the NBA community on notice for not giving his backcourt runningmate, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, enough love in the Rookie of The Year conversation.
Search up just about any article on the internet that pertains to the 2018-19 season’s Rookie of The Year candidacy and you’ll be hard-pressed to find one that mentions LA Clippers point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in any serious capacity. Put plainly, his partner in crime in the backcourt, Patrick Beverley, has had enough. Beverley tweeting after their matinee victory over the New York Knicks:
Been keeping my mouth close for a while. But how is @shaiglalex not in discussion for rookie of the year. Leading a team to the western conference playoffs.. imma sip this tea tho. No🧢
— Patrick Beverley (@patbev21) March 24, 2019
Pat certainly has a point here. Gilgeous-Alexander is the only rookie from his class who is not only starting, but starting for a playoff team in a very tough Western Conference. In a prominent role on his team, no less.
On the season, SGA is posting averages of 10.4ppg/2.7rpg/3.2apg while shooting 36.8% from deep. It’s worth noting that while he’s been starting consistently, Shai has averaged only 26 minutes. However, in the month of March, SGA has seen a rise in both minutes and production. Averaging 14ppg/3.1rpg/4.5apg in 29.7 minutes per game.
Comparing these numbers to those of probably his greatest competition in fellow rookie guards, Luka Doncic (21ppg/7.6rpg/5.8apg in 32.2 minutes) and Trae Young (18.7ppg/3.6rpg/7.9apg in 30.8 minutes), you can see how perhaps some in the mainstream media might have decided to simply focus their attention on those two. They’re the number-one options on their respective teams and will make plenty of plays that’ll look great in a mixtape.
That’s all very nice and their cases for the award are more than legitimate, but it’s still tough to ignore– Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is starting on a team competing for a spot in the postseason. After Sunday’s victory over the Knicks, SGA’s LA Clippers are a comfortable 14 games over .500. The Mavericks are second-bottom in the West and the Hawks already boast a cringe-worthy 48 losses.
It would admittedly be a bit disingenuous to suggest that all of the Clippers’ success is rooted in the performance of their rookie point guard. With guys like Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, and Danilo Gallinari (stars in their own right) contributing heavily each night, your team should win a lot of games. But Shai has absolutely been an integral cog in the machine as the Clippers keep chugging along to the playoffs.
SGA has made a habit of filling up the box score each night and has only gotten better with each passing day. Dicing up opposing teams with his lethal mid-range jumpers and pin-point passing, posing a legitimate threat from behind the arc (57.7% in the month of March!), and wreaking havoc on the defensive end. The kid is hitting his stride just in time to show out in the postseason. Something that none of his competition can say.
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Will Shai be the one to take home Rookie of The Year when the NBA Awards roll around? You never know what a strong close to the season and a surprising run in the playoffs can do for those odds. We’ll just have to wait and see. But to the point of Patrick Beverley’s tweet, he at least deserves to be in the conversation.