Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the second Canadian to win the MVP award after Steve Nash.Kyle Terada/Reuters
Before turning heads as an NBA All-Star and fashion icon, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was a kid with a singular focus: becoming the best he could be at basketball.
What he didn’t have (at first) in height, he made up for in dedication, persuading his coach to unlock the school gym for him at 6 a.m. each morning so he could train.
That coach was Dwayne Washington, founder and director of basketball club Uplay Canada in Hamilton, where Gilgeous-Alexander grew up.
Washington was also a science teacher at Sir Allan MacNab Secondary School, where Gilgeous-Alexander – known to fans simply as SGA – attended part of high school. Washington was SGA’s club coach and his high-school coach during that time.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander conquered the NBA. Now, he’s conquering the fashion world
Now, the Oklahoma City Thunder star and recently named MVP is playing in his first NBA Finals –and OKC fans hope he’ll help the team win their first championship for their city.
Washington spoke to The Globe and Mail ahead of Game 3 in the series about what it’s like to watch SGA take centre stage – and what can be learned from his example.
How did you first get to know Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?
He came to one of our club tryouts. He was entering eighth grade. He was pretty short. He didn’t stand out much. The only thing that stood out was that he was very locked in and focused on whatever we were telling him. He wasn’t looking around, he wasn’t distracted. His concentration was extremely sharp.
What was he like to coach?
His goal-setting was high. And those goals are everything you see today – MVP, All-Star. It was a long list.
He was task-oriented, trying to work on his skills all the time. He’d come in the morning for his own practice, make me get up at 6 a.m., and then at 12 o’clock he would eat lunch in the health room and we’d watch video of different players. Then we had practice after school, and then he would go to the YMCA, and then go home and do his homework.
He was very focused and disciplined. He didn’t get distracted. He knew what he wanted to do.
When SGA was trying to become the best he could at the game, was it all about that discipline and focus – or were there also other things you could see he was doing?
It was discipline and consistency. What he would do is take all the drills and videos and work on them, tirelessly. He does it to this day. He would work, work, work, work, work and try to master everything to exhaustion. It was pretty cool to see. You see kids do that when they try to get As or valedictorian. He was trying to become a valedictorian in basketball.
I read that you tried to bring some of your teachings as a science teacher into the game of basketball. Tell me about that.
One hundred per cent, I’ve done that for 20 years. He was just the only one who cared about it. I brought in geometry, physics, biology. And I related it to basketball, his body, you know – projection, trajectory, motion, speed, pace. The truth is, I’ve taught a lot of guys these things – they don’t care, it’s boring, they’re looking at their phone, they’re on to the next thing. But he was 14 going on 37 in terms of his focus. He just really took to it. He’s a special guy and a gifted learner.
How have you seen his work ethic, and these other traits you’re describing, on display during the playoffs and finals?
He is very meticulous about where he needs to get, how he’s going to get there and when he needs to get there. There’s not a lot of wasted energy, because he has to play the whole game.
I can tell what he’s going to do before he does it, because he’s setting things up early. It’s like a high-level boxing match: jab, jab, jab, hook; jab, jab, jab, body shot. It’s very intelligent.
It’s pretty cool to see it all play out, almost as if it’s a great actor and you see the person studying their lines in the hallway and then they get on stage and put it together.
What was it like to see SGA named NBA MVP – the first Canadian to win the award since Steve Nash?
It was a surreal feeling. I don’t have a word for it. I would just say it was a surreal moment.
SGA is a star, but there are three other Canadians in this year’s finals as well. As someone who’s coached so many young players in this country, how does it feel to see Canadians succeed?
It’s satisfaction. You take so much time away from your family, kids, your own goals, dreams. All that time was worth it because you see guys not wasting your efforts. You want them to be happy and do something with it, it doesn’t have to be the NBA, it could just be learning transferable skills. But to see them do it at the highest level, it justifies the time – because we’re never going to get that time back. So, it’s really rewarding.
What advice do you have for parents of young athletes about how they can nurture their talent?
I would say [make sure the kid is] a well-rounded athlete. Shai played a lot of other sports. He is able to make decisions on the court because he has a balanced experience – for example, lateral movement with soccer; with football, toughness.
The issue is for every Shai, there are people who don’t know when to rest their bodies, eat, sleep, turn their phone off. Shai goes to bed early, he turns his phone off, he eats balanced. His mind, body, his spirit – it’s all on the same page.
Make sure the kid is well-rounded. They’ll thank you later.
What other lessons do you think anyone watching can learn from SGA?
For parents whose kids love sports, it would be great if they were watching the games with them. See how Shai goes about manipulating the game and controlling the tempo. He’s not a big physical force – he’s someone who’s doing it with mind and effort. Those are the two things that our children can control: their effort and mindset. He’s not LeBron James, he’s not the biggest guy on the court. He controls what he controls and when you do that, you can perform very well.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
