Jaden McDaniels let frustration get the better of him on Thursday night.
The Minnesota Timberwolves forward McDaniels picked up a flagrant foul in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. It was during the fourth quarter of the game at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, O.K. when Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was bringing the ball up the floor.
McDaniels, who was defending Gilgeous-Alexander, felt that Gilgeous-Alexander had committed an offensive foul in the form of an arm hook. The referees did not blow their whistle though, so McDaniels decided to take matters into his own hands.
Immediately after the hook, McDaniels caught up to Gilgeous-Alexander and gave him a shove to the ground. The shove was called as a personal foul at the time but was upgraded to a flagrant 1 upon review. Here is the video of the play.
Jaden McDaniels was given a flagrant 1 for this foul on SGA. pic.twitter.com/AECX5FSngc
— ESPN (@espn) May 23, 2025
Another angle of the shove can be seen below.
Jaden McDaniels shoves Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pic.twitter.com/rSeG10BY8Y
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) May 23, 2025
McDaniels, Minnesota’s top perimeter defender, has drawn Gilgeous-Alexander as his primary assignment in the Western Conference Finals. But it has very much been a Sisyphean task for McDaniels given Gilgeous-Alexander’s strong knack for drawing fouls.
During Game 1, McDaniels fouled out as Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points on 11/14 free throws to lead the Thunder to a 114-88 win. Thursday’s Game 2 was also more of the same with McDaniels picking up five fouls as Gilgeous-Alexander scored 38 points on 13/15 free throws to lead the Thunder to a 118-103 win.
NBA fans in general are largely getting tired of Gilgeous-Alexander’s foul-baiting style of play (which is ultimately getting rewarded by the referees too). During Thursday’s game, it was clear that McDaniels is tired of it as well.
