The Gravity of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Game

 

Flop or not: Does Shai Gilgeous-Alexander really fall more than his peers?

By Tom Haberstroh

Back in December, after defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Cup semifinal, Victor Wembanyama spoke about the growth of his team and their commitment to “pure and ethical basketball.” The clear implication of his comments was that their opponent, the Thunder, did not play the same way. As the teams meet again in the Western Conference finals, those words remain relevant for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has won two consecutive MVPs but continues to face criticism for “foul-baiting” and hunting for calls. Fans in opposing arenas have even been known to chant “free-throw merchant” at him.

The debate intensified after a viral video on X, which garnered over 17 million views, claimed Gilgeous-Alexander “flopped on every single shot attempt” during a Wednesday night game. However, the 36-second clip only showed seven plays where he hit the floor, whereas he actually took 24 field-goal attempts that night, scoring 30 points and shooting six free throws—a number below his regular-season average.

To find an objective answer to whether Gilgeous-Alexander falls more than other stars, Tom Haberstroh watched over 1,300 shots from this postseason, comparing the Thunder star to Jalen Brunson, James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, and Victor Wembanyama.

SGA falls most often on non-whistle shots

On field-goal attempts where no foul was called, Gilgeous-Alexander hit the hardwood on 10.7% of his attempts (20 out of 187). For comparison:

• James Harden: 8.7%
• Jalen Brunson: 7.9%
• Donovan Mitchell: 7.6%
• Victor Wembanyama: 0.6% (falling only once on 164 non-fouled shots)

SGA also has the most falls on whistled shots

The disparity is even greater on shots where a whistle is blown. Gilgeous-Alexander has fallen on 51.4% of his shooting fouls this postseason. This is significantly higher than his peers, none of whom have a fall rate higher than 30% on fouled shots. In fact, Gilgeous-Alexander’s 19 falls on fouled shots are more than Brunson, Mitchell, and Wembanyama combined (17).

SGA falls twice as often as his peers

When looking at all shots (both fouled and non-fouled), Gilgeous-Alexander hits the deck on 17.4% of his overall attempts. This is nearly four times the rate of Wembanyama and roughly double the collective rate of the other high-scoring peers tracked. Interestingly, he also seems to hit the floor more frequently on midrange attempts; he has fallen five times in that area this postseason compared to only once for Jalen Brunson.

The Reason Behind the Falls

While critics may view this as flopping, the NBA has not fined Gilgeous-Alexander—or any other player—for flopping this season. The league defines a flop as a physical reaction to contact that is “inconsistent with what would have been expected given the force or direction of the contact.”

There are several theories for why he falls so often:

• He may be getting fouled harder than others.
• His unique shiftiness and footwork may cause defenders to shuffle into his landing zone, knocking him off balance.
• He may be protecting his joints by distributing the force of impact across his body, a technique similar to those used in martial arts and reportedly employed by players like Joel Embiid and Pascal Siakam.

Regardless of the cause, the frequency of his falls is increasing; he fell six times in Game 1 and nine times in Game 2. While his propensity to hit the floor remains a major talking point, Gilgeous-Alexander can rely on his championship ring and two MVP awards to answer his detractors.