Having accumulated roughly over $150 million from his NBA career, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has found the perfect team to pour the wealth into. Interestingly, it’s not an NBA team. In fact, it’s not even a basketball team.

On October 8, 2026, the European football team, Atletico de Madrid announced that SGH had joined as one of its investors. “Shai Gilgeous-Alexander bets on Atlético de Madrid and joins as an investor in our club.”

The team is worth roughly €2.5 billion or $2.9 billion. Along with the announcement, the team’s official X page also shared Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s thoughts on becoming part of the investors’ group.

“I am excited to officially join the group of shareholders of Atlético de Madrid,” he reportedly said. “This is a club with a long history at the top of European football, and I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of its future.”

Atletico de Madrid is currently No. 2 in La Liga as of the time of writing. As Alexander mentioned, it boasts a rich history of being the top team in various European leagues. The team has accumulated 11 La Liga Championship trophies and 10 Copa del Rey championships.

The team has been majority-owned by the American fund named Apollo Global Management for a long time now. Alexander’s stake in the team, however, has not been revealed in great detail.

Perhaps Alexander foreshadowed his intention to become an investor earlier this year. In April 2026, he was seen wearing an Atletico tracksuit after the club won against FC Barcelona.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s key players. He helped the team reach the NBA Finals victory back in the 2024-25 season. In fact, he’s also become MVP twice since then.

However, questions about his playstyle remain a topic of contention.

Looking at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s stats, one thing becomes clear. He has some of the highest free-throw rates in the NBA. In the 2025-26 season, he attempted 614 free throws and made 540 of them (87.9%)

Moreover, this wasn’t the only season he had a 9.0 FTA average per game. Given his tendency to shoot nearly 88% from the free-throw line, critics dubbed him the Free Throw Merchant.

In a recent interview with TIME, he finally addressed the nickname he received from social media and basketball analysts. “Playing this game has done amazing things for my and my family’s life,” he said.

“And if a narrative on social media is the worst that comes from this game for me, well, I’d take that a million times out of a million times.” Despite criticism, one thing is clear.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may be the best player on the Oklahoma City Thunder’s active roster. It was his high scoring rate that helped the team win its first NBA championship since the franchise moved from Seattle.

His 2024-25 season MVP award just goes out to prove it. More importantly, SGH knows exactly who he is. “I think I’m the best player in the NBA,” he told TIME. “I think the production that I have night in and night out is best-player-in-the-NBA production. I think the efficiency that I do it at is best-player-in-the-NBA efficiency.”

Despite being the defending champions, the OKC were eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs last season. Now, as the 2026-27 season comes into effect, the rivals are set to go up against each other during their season opener.