The Minnesota Timberwolves want to win a championship, but to get there, they have to pass the Oklahoma City Thunder. Built by years of wise moves by Sam Presti, the Thunder have constructed an unstoppable core around two-time reigning Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and can advance to defend last year’s championship if they defeat the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals on Saturday night.
But there’s a small problem that head coach Chris Finch noticed a long time ago. Back in February of 2025, Finch’s Timberwolves earned a 131-128 overtime victory against the Thunder. While it was a big win, Finch still had a bone to pick with Oklahoma City, commenting on their aggressive playing style that was allowed by the officials.
“It’s so frustrating to play this team because they foul a ton,” Finch said via SI’s Joe Nelson. “You know, they really do. They foul and foul all the time. And then you can’t really touch Shai. And it’s a very frustrating thing and it takes a lot of mental toughness to try and play through it.”
As the Thunder flop and hack their way through another run in the playoffs, NBA fans have begun to pick up on it and may have finally acknowledged that Finch was right.
Chris Finch’s comments are louder than ever during Thunder’s playoff run
The NBA probably doesn’t want you to know about Finch’s comments, but they’re becoming front and center during the Thunder’s playoff run.
Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the NBA’s biggest stars after winning a scoring title and the MVP award with 32.7 points per game during the 2024-25 season. He backed it up with 31.1 points per game to win his second MVP award this year. But he’s also been aided at the free throw line, averaging 9.3 free throw attempts per game over the past four seasons.
Good players get to the line all the time and trying to draw the officials' attention to get more shots at the charity stripe is a testament to putting an opponent in a bad situation. But it seems like Gilgeous-Alexander gets the benefit of the whistle every time he hits the deck.
Yahoo contributor Tom Haberstroh charted Gilgeous-Alexander’s falling habit entering Game 3 of the Western Conference finals and noted that the Thunder star fell at a 10.7 percent rate on non-fouled shots. The rate is nearly two percent higher than Cleveland Cavaliers guard James Harden, who fell on 8.7 percent of non-fouled attempts and nearly three percent higher than New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (7.9 percent), who Gilgeous-Alexander could potentially face in the NBA Finals.
In addition, Gilgeous-Alexander fell on 51.4 percent of his fouled shots, which is well past Harden’s 29.3 percent rate and double that of San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, who falls on 25 percent of his fouled shot attempts.
The falling and free throw disparity can be seen in the last two games of the conference finals. In Game 5, Gilgeous-Alexander got to the line 17 times and scored half of his 32 points from the charity stripe in a 127-114 victory. In Game 6, he had just three free throw attempts and was limited to 15 points in a 118-91 loss.
That could be the reason why Wembanyama made his “ethical basketball” comments – which are comical to Wolves fans – and have since been turned into a board game by the sports prediction market Underdog. But Gilgeous-Alexander calling his lawyers for a cease and desist might not be enough to salvage the Thunder’s reputation.
Isaiah Hartenstein wasn’t called for a foul after pulling Stephon Castle down by the hair to grab a rebound during Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals. Jared McCain elbowed Dylan Harper in the throat and fell to the floor as Harper raced behind him in a successful attempt to get a call in his favor. While there weren’t many egregious moments in Game 6 outside of Gilgeous-Alexander doing a barrel roll after a turnover, it didn’t stop Spurs fans from chanting “FLOPPER” on multiple occasions.
Despite all of this, national media personalities including ESPN’s Mike Breen defend Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder’s antics by claiming the comments are fueled by jealousy.
“Does Shai sell calls sometimes? Absolutely, but so do 287 other players in the NBA,” Breen said during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show this week. “When they weren’t a championship contender, nobody complained. They only complain now because they are winning.”
To the contrary, Finch was complaining five months before their first title and did so in a game the Timberwolves won. While Minnesota won that battle, the Thunder are a different animal to fight through seven games of flopping and hacking.
Looking at their roster, it’s a question that would be asked even if the Thunder didn’t play like this. But it’s also something Finch saw a long time ago and has the rest of the league starting to open its eyes.
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