Another historic NBA season is in the books. And the Thunder are proudly standing on top with their first championship since relocating to OKC. Although no one can take this moment away from them, many would be left wondering – would the outcome have been different had Tyrese Haliburton not gotten injured? Surely, this question will haunt Pacers fans for eternity. But while we will never know the answer, even Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams feel Haliburton’s misery for suffering a tragedy in the biggest game of his career.

While SGA’s sole focus for the past seven games was to decimate Tyrese and his squad, even the MVP was heartbroken to see the Pacers star go down at the biggest stage, “You just hate to see it. In sports in general, but in this moment, like my heart dropped for him. I couldn’t imagine playing the biggest game of my life and something like that happening. It’s so unfortunate. It’s not fair.”

Of course, no NBA player wants to see his peer go down with a potential career threatening injury at any stage, let alone Game 7 of the Finals. Shai continued, “I just felt so bad for him and just asked if he was okay. Obviously, he wasn’t. Prayers go out to him for sure.”

Seeing the Pacers star in agony, SGA even checked on him before he left the floor, displaying true sportsmanship. And he believes while Hali was unable to get it done this year, the future is bright for him and his franchise, “Hell of a player. Future is bright. That team is gonna be really good for a long time… Wish him the best of luck.”

Even Shai’s co-star J Dub shared a similar sentiment as he wished for Haliburton’s speedy recovery, “I wanna say I hope Tyrese is okay. I haven’t like looked at my phone or anything to like see what the thing is.” Well, Tyrese’s father John Haliburton confirmed soon after the tragic incident that it was an Achilles injury, which means he could be out for majority of next season. Everyone still awaits the official timeline. No doubt, Tyrese’s injury is unfortunate. But you cannot take anything away from OKC’s performance, especially Shai’s.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander joins elite company with Finals MVP win as Jalen Williams reveals halftime message to OKC locker room

Even after Tyrese exited the game, the Pacers somehow stayed in competition and finished the first half with a one-point lead. Indiana had won games from this position before, so J Dub had to remind his teammates that they cannot afford to take their foot off the gas just because Hali is not playing, “Going into halftime, a lot of it was like not letting up because he’s not playing. And then two, just don’t panic. When you’re that close to a goal, you gotta understand like the other team is feeling the same way we are. And I think that gave us a lot of confidence to just go out there and play.”

Sure enough, the message resonated with the entire team as Thunder pulled away in the second half with a massive lead. It was Shai who led the charge with his dominant 29-point double-double. With another amazing stat line and OKC winning the title, SGA capped off his historic season by bagging the Finals MVP trophy.

With that accolade, he joined the elite company of Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Shaquille O’Neal as the only four players in history to win the scoring title, MVP, and NBA championship in the same season.

While Shaq and Kareem did it once, Jordan achieved the feat four times. For a 26-year-old Shai to join the company of such legends proves the kind of superstar he has emerged into in only a few years. Hopefully, he will continue to add to this legacy, as the Thunder look to be the first team to win back-to-back titles next season since the Warriors did it in 2017 and 2018. Do you think they can do it?