Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can’t get away with drawing fouls on Doris Burke’s watch.
Gilgeous-Alexander drew a foul while being defended by Rudy Gobert late in the second quarter of Game 4 of the Western Conference finals between his Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn., on Sunday night. When analyzing the play for ESPN, commentator Burke said that the way Gilgeous-Alexander draws foul calls like that is “why he’s called the free throw merchant.”
Doris Burke called SGA a free throw merchant AGAIN 😭 pic.twitter.com/Fa7ebCId6y
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) May 27, 2025
Burke had also referenced that nickname for Gilgeous-Alexander earlier in the series, so this was her second time doing so on national TV.
Some fans took issue with the comment from Burke.
“This is why he’s called the free throw merchant”
— rylee (@thunderfanrylee) May 27, 2025
Highly unprofessional from ESPN and Dorris Burke pic.twitter.com/8Q62HMtB2c
SGA clearly got fouled by Rudy Gobert on the arm, but unprofessionally Doris Burke calls SGA a “Free Throw Merchant”
— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) May 27, 2025
There is no way she should be saying this on air, shoutout to RJ for sticking up and understanding. pic.twitter.com/ycIclEDrVp
“This is why he’s called a free throw merchant” -Doris Burke
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) May 27, 2025
pic.twitter.com/9VBqpasbHo
Gilgeous-Alexander’s penchant for drawing fouls and trying to earn those calls has not sat well with many. Timberwolves fans even taunted SGA during Game 3 with “free throw merchant” chants.
SGA was getting plenty of calls in Game 4. He scored 40 points and grabbed 9 rebounds with 10 assists. He went 12/14 on free throws as he led all scorers.
The Thunder got the win in Game 4 128-126 to increase their lead in the series to 3-1.
