Canadian guard headed to Los Angeles Clippers
TORONTO — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander followed a path to the NBA paved by the Canadian players that went before him.
And he made a fashion statement while doing it.
The 19-year-old, whose draft-night attire had social media buzzing, is headed to the Los Angeles Clippers, originally selected No. 11 by Charlotte in Thursday’s NBA draft before he was traded to the Clippers.
“I feel like we’re on the rise,” Gilgeous Alexander said of Canadian basketball. “The world is starting to realize how good we are at basketball. I don’t think it’ll stop soon. There is a lot of good kids over there that have a good potential. I think this is just the beginning.”
He was traded to the Clippers for the draft rights to Miles Bridges and a couple of second-round picks.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who was born in Toronto but grew up in Hamilton, showed rapid improvement in his one season at Kentucky. He came off the bench before working his way into the starting lineup, and scored 16.4 points per night the rest of the way. He averaged over 19 points, almost seven assists, and shot over 50 per cent from three-point range in his final 10 games with the Wildcats.
Considered the best point guard in the draft, Gilgeous-Alexander has impressive length — he’s 6-foot-6 with a 6-11 wingspan.
“I’m a playmaking guard, pass-first point guard,” he said. “Like to get teammates involved. Good leader. Likable guy. I’m really just willing to do whatever the team needs me to do to win.”
Long before his name was called at Barclays Center, Gilgeous-Alexander was all over the internet for his champagnecoloured floral suit.
It was made by Jhoanna Alba, whose company ALBA is known for dressing over 1,000 pro athletes and entertainers.
“When I was getting fitted for my suit, I had no intentions of getting something like this. I wanted to look nice, but nothing this crazy,” he said. “I noticed there was this square of fabric on the table next to me while I was getting fitted. It had this pattern and this colour (champagne). I tried it on the trim of my jacket at first. I liked that a little bit and then I tried the whole jacket and figured out I really liked it. Then I put the whole suit together and fell in love.”
The fashion became the highlight on an otherwise hum-drum draft night.
Trae Young, who’s headed to Atlanta, wore suit-shorts, similar to LeBron James’ Bermuda shorts style during the playoffs.
“I wanted to be different,” Young said. “No one has ever rocked the shorts before at the draft.”
Wendell Carter Jr. wore a Gucci scarf inspired by “Black Panther.” Even his parents wore Gucci outfits bearing tigers inspired by the Marvel Comics movie.
Gilgeous-Alexander follows a string of Canadian lottery picks.
Anthony Bennett became the Canadian to be picked No. 1 overall, going first to Cleveland in 2013. Andrew Wiggins followed him a year later, also selected by the Cavaliers with the first overall pick.
Tristan Thompson was the highest Canadian draft pick before Bennett when he went fourth to Cleveland in 2011.
The Toronto Raptors don’t have a pick in this year’s draft, although they have talked about trading into the draft.
The Phoenix Suns stayed close to home for their first No. 1 pick in Deandre Ayton, while the Dallas Mavericks looked all the way to Slovenia for the player they hope can be their next European star in Luka Doncic.