Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may have just made the most memeable face of the year.
Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder battled the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday for an NBA Cup quarterfinal game. In the third quarter at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., Suns guard Grayson Allen committed a flagrant foul on Thunder big man Chet Holmgren.
Allen was issued a flagrant 2 and ejected for the shove. You can see the video of the incident here.
But perhaps the bigger storyline was the face that Gilgeous-Alexander made in reaction to Allen’s shove. Gilgeous-Alexander, who was handling the ball at the time, had the most incredible snap reaction to the flagrant foul. Check it out.
SGAs reaction to the flagrant pic.twitter.com/0V7KONA5hQ
— Cage (@ridiculouscage) December 11, 2025
Some fantastic memes then resulted thanks to Gilgeous-Alexander’s animated moment. Take a look.
New Shai reaction just dropped pic.twitter.com/isHzUZJdxQ
— zac (@shaisprint) December 11, 2025
Reaction from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who will not play in the fourth quarter again: #NBACup pic.twitter.com/b07E3w4kRE
— FCMoon.com (@FCMooncom) December 11, 2025
All he thinking to himself is “the way I’d flop on a shove like that” pic.twitter.com/otjRfoNMal
— Pearnivore (@PearnivoreMMA) December 11, 2025
— Zardy_1 (@Zardy_101) December 11, 2025
The reigning NBA MVP Gilgeous-Alexander had an efficient night at the office on Wednesday, finishing with 28 points on 11/15 shooting and eight assists to lead the way for the Thunder. But he is actually surprisingly memeable too, as evidenced by last year’s playoffs when Gilgeous-Alexander pulled a Ricky Bobby.
