Of course, a lot of us were expecting Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to win MVP last year, so his finally getting his hands on the accolade now comes as no surprise. However, to some, SGA winning is a travesty given the frequent accusations of being a foul-baiter levied at him. And seemingly, it’s not just fans online who have this take – an active NBA player who’s played against Shai also agrees, but not in the way his detractors would hope.

Playing for the New Orleans Pelicans, Trey Murphy III had his season ended early by a torn labrum and a partially torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder. But before that happened, his side did go 3-0 in the regular season against SGA’s Oklahoma City Thunder. So we can safely claim that Trey knows the Thunder guard’s game well. And he thinks what Shai does is something you can’t really blame him for doing.

“If the NBA was like, all right, you can’t do this. It’s different, but like it was almost like with James Harden. Like he’s almost like exploiting a rule to an extent, but you know, you still have to be skilled enough to do it. Like I’m not gonna act like he’s not getting fouled,” said the Pelicans player during an interview with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks.

He also defended the 2025 MVP from another accusation some of his haters throw at him – flopping. “He’s not flopping. To an extent. But they’re not all flops. If you watched game one, it wasn’t flopping. I mean, everybody flops. Yeah. I do too. Like from time to time, I do too. Play the game within the game. I think that’s what he’s doing at a really high level,” clarified Murphy.

Now, the reason he brought up Game 1 is obvious. Shai attempted 14 free throws (and made 11 of them) in that game. With that tally, SGA shot one more than his team’s combined free throws and only 7 fewer FT attempts than the entire Timberwolves team. And now, through two games of the Conference Finals, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has already attempted 29 free throws—continuing a postseason trend that’s seen him average 9.6 trips to the line per game. He’s made 106 free throws so far, the most by any player this postseason.

But does that mean SGA’s haters are right? Is he really the “free throw merchant” or “foul baiter” they claim he is? Well, let’s compare his free-throw stats to some of his peers to find out if there’s any truth to these claims. 

Is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander really a “free-throw merchant”?

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is easily among the top 3 players in the NBA. And look further than his MVP trophy for proof. But how big a role do free throws play in his success compared to his peers? Let’s start with addressing the elephant in the room – SGA’s free-throw stats. Through his career, the Canadian has attempted an average of 7 free throws.

But over the last 3 seasons, his average has seen a sharp increase: 9.4 attempts per game. And his attempts peaked in 2022 when he shot an average of nearly 11 a game. In the same timeframe, SGA’s MVP rival, Nikola Jokic, has averaged 6.0 free throws a game in the regular season. Given this stark difference, it’s no wonder that Shai handily outscores the Serbian big man. But the script changes when we compare SGA to another NBA great.

LeBron James has a similar career average when it comes to shots from the line. However, in his peak, Bron was shooting almost as many as SGA. Between the 2007-08 and 2009-10 seasons at Cleveland, James averaged nearly a whopping 10 free throw attempts a game. But what’s interesting is that in that time, he averaged fewer points (29.4) than Shai (31.4). Even so, he didn’t catch nearly as much flak as SGA for how many times he went to the line per game.

So what does all this mean for SGA?

Well, it simply means that he’s not really a free-throw merchant like many would suggest. He’s averaged over 30 points a game in the last few seasons. And he shouldn’t be criticized for opposition defenses failing to stop him without fouling him. After all, that was the case when LeBron was at the peak of his powers. So, we should afford the 2025 MVP the same grace, even if it means watching him go to the line over 10 times in one game!