It takes a lot to find success in the NBA. You need more than talent, height, athleticism, and physical tools. Sometimes, you even need more than good luck and health.
That’s why just a handful of players make it, and even fewer of them actually manage to have long and successful careers. No one can control all the defining factors.
What they can control, however, is the way they carry themselves. That’s why, to legendary college basketball coach John Calipari, it wasn’t a surprise to see Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reach these heights.
John Calipari gushes about SGA and Derrick Rose
When asked about his former Kentucky pupil, who was recently named NBA MVP, Calipari compared him to another former MVP of his coaching tree, Derrick Rose, stating that their personalities and how they treated their teammates were what made them truly special:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
“Unbelievable teammates, both of them. So, Shai does not do a post-game interview without teammates around him. Won’t do it. Derrick would not take a picture for a magazine, whatever, unless he had teammates around him,” Calipari told Jim Rome.
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Calipari has had his fair share of elite talents and great recruits throughout the course of the years, so watching him speak so highly of any player goes to show you just how much of a leader SGA has always been.
