Early in their working relationship, Thunder general manager Sam Presti handed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a children’s copy of Aesop’s “The Tortoise and the Hare” and used its lesson to frame the franchise’s long-term plan, according to ESPN. Presti explained how the fable’s moral applied to Gilgeous-Alexander’s development and the Thunder’s vision for building a contender.
The message of patience carried particular weight after Gilgeous-Alexander’s second season in Oklahoma City, when he missed the second half of the year with lingering plantar fasciitis and the team finished 22-50 and secured a lottery pick, according to ESPN. That campaign left the young guard in relative national obscurity even as several of his draft peers were flourishing.
According to ESPN, Luka Dončić had already earned two first-team All-NBA selections and Trae Young had been an All-Star who led the Atlanta Hawks to the Eastern Conference finals. Memphis guard Ja Morant, taken in the following draft, had made his playoff debut and was widely viewed as an ascending superstar.
Gilgeous-Alexander and Presti committed to one another in the 2021 offseason with a five-year, $172 million maximum extension, a deal that lacked a player option unlike those signed by Dončić and Young that summer, according to ESPN. The contract underscored Gilgeous-Alexander’s allegiance to the franchise that acquired him along with a historic haul of first-round picks in the Paul George trade.
Five years later, according to ESPN, Gilgeous-Alexander is the reigning back-to-back MVP and a 2024-25 championship banner hangs in the Paycom Center rafters. The rookie extension is now viewed as a significant bargain entering its final season before a four-year, $279 million supermax extension begins. Gilgeous-Alexander told ESPN he “believed wholeheartedly” in Presti and felt fortunate to be placed with him, echoing the GM’s refrain that “slow and steady wins the race.”
