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John Calipari believes the NBA wants Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to be the face of the league

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones06/11/25brianjones_93
John Calipari Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (1)
Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images//Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

John Calipari believes the NBA wants Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to be the face of the league. While appearing on the FanDuel Sports Network show Golic & Golic on Wednesday, the Arkansas basketball coach talked about what makes Gilgeous-Alexander a special player.

“He’s not going to do it emotionally. Like, people were mad after Game 1, because he didn’t — ‘we got to do this and —’ that ain’t who he is. He just said, ‘Next game is just another game.’ He was trying to take the pressure off his teammates so they could just go play, even though he knows this is on his shoulders,” John Calipari said.

“So I think — don’t you want the face of the NBA to be a guy that goes out of his way to greet fans, to take pictures, doesn’t think he’s any different, has fame and has taken advantage of it, knowing that fame is fleeting, comes and goes? And he’s taken advantage of it. I would say the NBA wants him to be the face.”

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander talks about playing at an MVP level

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might not be the face of the NBA right now, but he could be if he leads the Oklahoma City Thunder to an NBA title this year and continues to play like an MVP down the road. SGA won his first MVP this year after averaging 32.7 points, five rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.72 steals and 1.01 blocks in 76 regular season games. Gilgeous-Alexander joined Michael Jordan as the only two players in NBA history to average at least 32.0 points and 6.0 assists per game and shoot 50.0% or better from the field in a season. 

After being named MVP, Gilgeous-Alexander spoke to reporters about when he did feel that he could play at an MVP level. “I always thought that I could be a really good player because I had seen what just putting your head down and working and controlling what you can control can do for you, and I made tremendous strides,” he said in May, per The Oklahoman.

“But I never — I guess once the conversation started a couple years ago. But I never, like, thought this was going to happen. I dreamt about it as a kid, but you know as a kid it’s a fake dream. But as the days go on and you realize that you get closer to your dream, it’s hard to not freak out. It’s hard to not be a six-year-old kid again, and I think that’s what’s allowed me to achieve it.”