In today’s NBA, only Giannis Antetokounmpo shoots more free throws per game (10.4) than MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (8.9). This dynamic, of course, tends to make some NBA fans reflexively recoil.
No one really likes to watch free throws in basketball, so naturally, players who get to the line a lot are often labeled as “grifters” who are gaming the system, so to speak.
This is not a development lost on Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch. After Minnesota pulled off an unbelievable 131-128 overtime comeback win over the Thunder on Monday, Finch went on an appropriate rant about how he thinks the NBA has inadvertently created a double standard between how defenders are allowed to approach Gilgeous-Alexander and how the Thunder themselves are allowed to defend.
Honestly? It’s kind of hard to disagree with Finch’s central thesis:
Chris Finch talking about OKC after the game pic.twitter.com/ZjiBzVGDlA
— House of Highlights (@HoHighlights) February 25, 2025
Finch’s contention here is fair at face value. It does sometimes feel like defenders have to be extra careful around Gilgeous-Alexander, as they’re seemingly at greater risk of fouling him with the slightest hint of increased force. Completely hemming Gilgeous-Alexander in feels like an impossible ask if you’re not allowed to get into his body. He’s too skilled.
On the flip side, the Thunder’s No. 1 ranked defense presses and gets into the chest of every player on opposing teams. They do not let the offense breathe much, if at all. It stands to reason that they’re broaching the line of “physical defense” and “that should be a foul” much more often than they are actually called on. In Finch’s mind, defenders cannot touch Gilgeous-Alexander much without a whistle, while the Thunder’s defense can sometimes flat-out mug people.
But that’s the thing. Fouls are called on the Thunder. They’re fifth in the NBA in fouls per game (20.5). It’s the very nature of their system to be more aggressive and take their lumps when officials tell them to ease up with apt foul calls. The Thunder have made peace with this logic and they are penalized for their pedal-to-the-metal defensive play style, even if Finch believes they should be punished for it even more.
As for Gilgeous-Alexander, it’s not his fault he’s mastered elite creation as a guard. He’s not “cheating” by spending so much time at the charity stripe. The MVP-caliber talisman has just transformed into a player who knows how to get to his spots while manipulating defenders’ momentum against them. Are there questionable touch calls he gets sometimes? Yes, undoubtedly. But that’s mostly the case for many top-level NBA superstars. When you’re an elite player, you tend to get the benefit of the doubt more than more replaceable cogs in the machine.
His play on offense, in this regard, has little to do with how the Thunder approach defense. The two factors are not correlated together.
This is the richest part of Finch’s general assertion.
He’s not criticizing the Thunder or Gilgeous-Alexander in good faith because he knows his Timberwolves — who are known for being a tenacious defensive team — benefit from officials swallowing their whistle when they’re on defense. His calling out of a Thunder double standard involving Gilgeous-Alexander is more about a plea for officials to look the other way when his elite defense is turning on the jets. Finch is trying to have his cake and eat it, too. You don’t get to have it both ways when you’re a team like the Timberwolves.
Still, there probably is something to Finch’s thought process about Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder. It would’ve rang a lot more true if it came from another coach of a non-defensively-oriented team.
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