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SGA went from not making high school JV team to NBA Finals MVP

IMG_8358by: Andy Villamarzo06/24/25Andy_Villamarzo
NBA: Finals-Indiana Pacers at Oklahoma City Thunder
Jun 22, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) lifts the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy as the Oklahoma City Thunder celebrate after winning game seven of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

When it comes down to the all-time NBA greats, even 6-time champion Michael Jordan wasn’t able to make the cut onto his high school’s varsity team as a sophomore. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander faced a very similar path and is now a NBA champion and Finals MVP.

SGA didn’t make the cut as a freshman on Ontario’s St. Thomas More junior varsity basketball team. Little to anyone’s knowledge, that would only fuel SGA to where he is today as an NBA star.

“Sometimes I sit back and it’s surreal. Just, like, where I was a decade ago, to think I’m here now is a crazy feeling,” said SGA via News 9 in 2024.

The Oklahoma City Thunder shooting guard is coming off leading the franchise to its first-ever NBA championship and put up some strong numbers along the way. SGA averaged 30.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists through the grueling seven-game series against the Indiana Pacers.

SGA’s journey to the mountain top of the NBA is reminiscent of that to Jordan, who didn’t make varsity as a sophomore and then went on to win six titles with the Chicago Bulls. The paths to prosperity between the two have similarities and it could be the start of more to come as SGA is only 26 years old, playing on one of the NBA’s more youthful rosters.

After his time in Canada, the guard moved down to Tennessee and ended up playing out his high school career at at Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

As a senior 6-foot-5 guard, SGA through 32 games averaged a team-high 18.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and dished out four assists per contest for the Hawks. He would initially commit to the University of Florida before decommitting and signing with the University of Kentucky instead.

During his college days with the Wildcats, SGA played just one season before announcing his intentions to head into the NBA Draft. In his lone season at Kentucky, the guard averaged 14.4 points, 5.1 assists and 4.1 rebounds through 37 games.