Even after a heartbreaking loss, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn't let the emotionally-taxing result stop him from fact-checking an NBA reporter. After the Oklahoma City Thunder fell in a 113-112 loss to the LA Clippers, the two-time MVP winner corrected an incorrect stat used in the last question of his postgame press conference.
An LA reporter asked Gilgeous-Alexander a pretty vanilla question, but threw in a statistical tidbit that didn't sound right. Lowering his head to show his puzzled facial expression through his sunglasses, he asked the media member to repeat himself.
"Shai, during the first half, it was the first time in your NBA career that you didn’t record a single assist," the LA reporter said. "At what point during the game — I mean,
you ended the game with 40 — do you feel like you have to turn that up a notch and start taking over the game offensively?"
After hearing the reporter reiterate the stat, Gilgeous-Alexander quickly corrected him. His basketball-rich memory bank brought up arguably his best performance ever as evidence that he was wrong.
“That’s a false stat, by the way,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “In Game 4 against Indiana, I didn’t have an assist the whole game. But sorry. Go ahead.”
That's the game where Gilgeous-Alexander drilled a legacy-defining baseline jumper over Aaron Nesmith. He had 35 points and three rebounds — but zero assists. He carried the Thunder to a championship-saving Game 4 win over the Indiana Pacers to tie the 2025 NBA Finals at 2-2 apiece.
And if you're being overly critical of Gilgeous-Alexander's response — saying maybe the reporter meant regular season only — he had zero assists in the first half of OKC's recent loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Just two days prior to their 2026 NBA Cup loss to the Clippers.
After Gilgeous-Alexander gave a textbook answer over his efficient 40 points that went in vain, the NBA reporter tossed away any plausible deniability. He admitted in a joking way that he received the incorrect stat using an AI-based search engine.
"Gotcha," the reporter quipped. "Don't trust AI."
Gilgeous-Alexander delivered the last words of the funny exchange as he walked off the podium. He joked back: "Yeah, don’t do it. Definitely don’t do it!"
The funny back-and-forth went viral on social media. Gilgeous-Alexander's anti-AI stance won him over some brownie points with the grander NBA world. His utter confusion and quick correction made it even funnier. It's a lesson in gaining extra verification when researching a niche stat like that.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander fact-checking an LA reporter who used AI search results to get an incorrect stat lmao pic.twitter.com/B4wZbSFv7B
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) November 14, 2026
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has viral moment with NBA reporter over AI-researched question
