What is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Net Worth and Salary?
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a Canadian professional basketball player who has a net worth of $50 million. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander plays for the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder. Previously, he played one season with the Los Angeles Clippers, and before that played a year of college basketball with the Kentucky Wildcats. Gilgeous-Alexander has also played with the Canada men’s national basketball team, winning bronze at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup en route to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Salary & Contracts
In August 2021, Shai signed a 5-year, $172 million rookie contract extension with the Thunder. The average annual salary on the contract is $34 million, but by the end of the deal he will earn $40 million per season. For his next contract he is eligible for a supermax extension in 2025 that would be a 4-year, $294.6 million deal. In the final season of that deal, Shai would become the first player in NBA history to make $80 MILLION in a single season. For context, Michael Jordan earned $94 million during his ENTIRE NBA career. His supermax earnings by season would be:
- 2027-28: $68.684 million
- 2028-29: $70.939 million
- 2029-30: $76.194 million
- 2030-31: $81.449 million
Early Life and High School
Shaivonte Gilgeous-Alexander was born on July 12, 1998 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to Olympic sprinter Charmaine and basketball coach Vaughn. He was raised with his younger brother Thomasi in Hamilton, where he attended St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School and Sir Allan MacNab Secondary School. Gilgeous-Alexander then transferred to Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in Chattanooga, Tennessee for his junior and senior years. He graduated in 2017.
Collegiate Career
For college, Gilgeous-Alexander went to the University of Kentucky, where he played one season of college basketball with the Kentucky Wildcats in the 2017-18 season. He made an instant impression on the team, scoring 24 points with five rebounds and four assists in a game against Louisville in December. Gilgeous-Alexander continued to play exceptionally well throughout the season, and was named the MVP of the SEC tournament. In the NCAA tournament, he helped lead Kentucky to the Sweet 16, where they ultimately fell to Kansas State. After the season, Gilgeous-Alexander declared for the NBA draft.
Los Angeles Clippers
In the 2018 NBA draft, Gilgeous-Alexander was chosen with the 11th overall pick by the Charlotte Hornets. However, he was then traded to the Los Angeles Clippers. Gilgeous-Alexander went on to play with the Clippers in the 2018 NBA Summer League, averaging 19 points, 4.8 rebounds, and four assists per game. In the regular season, he played a career-high 82 games as the Clippers advanced to the 2019 playoffs. The team was ultimately eliminated in the first round by the Golden State Warriors.
(Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images)
Oklahoma City Thunder
In the summer of 2019, Gilgeous-Alexander was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He had a solid first season with the team, averaging 19 points and a career-high 5.9 rebounds per game, and recording his first NBA triple double. The Thunder made it to the 2020 playoffs, where they lost in the first round to the Houston Rockets. Although Gilgeous-Alexander had a strong start to the 2020-21 season, his season ended in late March after he tore his plantar fascia. He returned in fine form for the 2021-22 season, and was named the NBA Western Conference Player of the Week for Week 10. However, his season ended prematurely in late March once again, this time due to an ankle injury. Gilgeous-Alexander finished the season with averages of 24.5 points, five rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game.
Gilgeous-Alexander had his best career season yet in 2022-23. In December, he put up a career-high 44 points in a game against the New Orleans Pelicans, and in February he earned his first NBA All-Star selection. Gilgeous-Alexander ended the season with a career-high average of 31.4 points per game and a career-high free-throw percentage of .905. He continued his success in the 2023-24 season, earning his second consecutive NBA All-Star selection. Moreover, Gilgeous-Alexander surpassed Kevin Durant’s Thunder franchise record for most 30-point games in a season, with 48. He came second in the season’s MVP voting as the Thunder entered the 2024 playoffs as the top seed in the Western Conference. Despite Gilgeous-Alexander’s terrific postseason performance, which included averages of 30.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, the Thunder lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference semifinals.
National Team Career
Gilgeous-Alexander first represented the Canada national basketball team on the junior level, playing in the 2016 FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship in Chile. In the tournament, he helped Canada win the silver medal. Gilgeous-Alexander subsequently joined the senior national team for the 2016 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Manila, where the team failed to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
In 2023, Gilgeous-Alexander helped Canada win bronze at the FIBA Basketball World Cup. This was a historic win, as it was Canada’s first-ever Basketball World Cup medal and first basketball medal at any major global tournament since the 1936 Summer Olympics. Moreover, the Canadian team secured a spot at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. For his sterling play, Gilgeous-Alexander was named to the FIBA Basketball World Cup All-Tournament Team.
Personal Life
In early 2024, Gilgeous-Alexander married his wife Hailey. They had a child a couple of months later.
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