Minnesota Timberwolves' Power Forward Jaden McDaniels has underlined the bizarre reason behind shoving Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma Thunder on Thursday during Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals. In the post-game presser attended by McDandiels explained that he purposely did it since there were fouls to use.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had eventually won the 2025 NBA MVP trophy for his 38 points to give his team a 2-0 lead, was in the middle of a sensational rally when the 24-year-old pushed his counterpart. After a heated verbal exchange took place between the two teams, McDaniels inevitably got one penalty point.
At the post-game presser, the youngster from Timberwolves explained his actions and stated:
"I wanted to foul him for real. I wasn't even mad. I just had fouls to use."
"You can't really touch Shai" - Chris Finch
Meanwhile, TimberWolves' issues with Gilgeous-Alexander go way back to February 2024 when head coach Chris Finch accused the Thunder of committing a foul and how high quality a player is Shai. He said, as quoted by ESPN:
"It's so frustrating to play this team because they foul a ton. They really do. They foul all the time. And then you can't really touch Shai. And it's a very frustrating thing and it takes a lot of mental toughness to try and play through it. And we just eventually were able to get downhill and force the issue ourselves and were rewarded for it."
