Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — "He Plays Like Kobe"

Signed years before the MVP trophy and the championship, when the only case I could make for him was the way he played — and a hometown connection neither of us saw coming.

I was locked in on Shai for one simple reason: he played like Kobe. That's the highest compliment I hand out, and it doesn't go to many guys — but even then, a couple of years before the breakout season, you could see it.

What I didn't expect that night was the hometown connection. Shai's official bio lists him as being from Toronto, but he's actually from Hamilton, Ontario — which is exactly where I was born, before my family moved to Toronto, where I grew up. When I got the chance to talk to him, I told him he was signing for someone from his actual hometown, and that my son and I were both Canadian.

He didn't have to stop for that. But he listened, took my card, signed it, then signed a second one for my son Christian, thanked us both for coming out, and moved on to the next fan waiting for him.

Before the MVP. Before the ring.
Just two guys from Ontario, a long way from home, for about thirty seconds by a tunnel rail in Orlando.

Kia Center / Amway Center, Orlando — December 20, 2024