Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder rolled through the first round of the NBA Playoffs with a perfect 4-0 sweep of the Phoenix Suns.
And while Phoenix gave it its best shot, much of the series’ attention went to the officiating and the storyline of villainous behavior. That included Devin Booker’s postgame remarks, which drew a league fine, and, of course, the narrative involving his teammate, Dillon Brooks, often tasked with defending SGA.
However, the NBA MVP, who seems on the verge of repeating as the award winner, showed why he is deserving of that honor and continues to make a case for being among the best in basketball history. He also didn’t hesitate to fire shots at Brooks and comment about him being a villain after that sweep occurred.
With the series officially over, SGA took to Instagram to unleash a harsh reality check for Brooks and the Suns, as part of a carousel post. It included highlight videos and photos from the series, as well as one particularly funny photoshopped image.
The fourth photo in the series has SGA pointing at Brooks as he runs towards him on the court. However, the fifth image takes things up a notch as it has another view of a similar shot.
However, this one shows a close-up of SGA, seemingly smirking, with the back of Brooks’ jersey reading “CANCUN ON 3” rather than his last name.
“everybody wants to be villainous until the brooms come out & the dust settles & you realize who the villain is,” SGA wrote for his IG post’s message.
The villain label has followed plenty of NBA players around over time, including Bill Laimbeer in the “Bad Boys” era of the Detroit Pistons and Ron Artest, aka Metta World Peace, who played for multiple teams, including the Pistons, Indiana Pacers, and Los Angeles Lakers.
In more recent times, that label has gone to the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green and former NBA star Patrick Beverly. Brooks has fully embraced the “Villain” moniker and is well-known for doing his best to agitate opponents, including LeBron James and SGA.
Brooks and SGA are teammates from Team Canada, so there’s a mutual respect between them. Following the Game 4 victory, SGA praised Brooks for redefining himself as more of a scorer later in his career.
“It just goes to show the work he puts in. He’s a worker. He’s always in the gym. Being around him, you know that,” SGA said.
“Obviously, knowing Dillon, he’s a great competitor. Great guy. No matter what people say about him, he’s a really good guy [if] you get to know him. So yeah, all that villain stuff doesn’t phase me. I know exactly who Dillon is. He had a hell of a series,” he told reporters.
OKC now awaits the winner of the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets series, with LeBron James and the Lakers holding a 3-1 series advantage.