On the court, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is an assassin. The Canadian basketball player boasts a unique play style, equally beloved by basketball nerds recognizing specific moves and counters and newfound fans who get lost in his balletic flurry of movement. It’s a chameleonic game in the modern era. Eschewing the current NBA’s hyperfixation with three-point shooting, Shai is the league’s most lethal midrange shooter, a crafty and dynamic finisher—a threat from every spot on the court. He’ll even float a left-handed finger roll loftily past a suspicious but helpless defender. Then, he’ll head to the post-game conference in head-to-toe Ferragamo and tinted shades.

Off the court, Shai is affable and charismatic, carrying himself with the same confidence that makes him a menace on the hardwood. Striding into a sun-speckled studio in Oklahoma City for our cover shoot, the OKC Thunder point guard arrives in a trademark, effortlessly chic outfit. His 6’6” frame somehow proves no obstacle to finding clothes that fit his increasingly mimicked but specific stylistic silhouette. As our shoot unfolds, Shai frequently remarks about his favorite pieces—running his hands along different garments and noting different textures and materials that catch his eye.

In recent years, there has been an explosion of visibility at the intersection between basketball and fashion. Social media and the prominence of the “tunnel fit” (a player’s fanatically-photographed walk into the arena before each game) have catapulted player fashion into its own position within the men’s fashion landscape. Shai—who is partially responsible for the format’s popularity—notes, “I remember when I first got into the NBA, there weren’t many people that took a strong interest in fashion and/or putting well-thought-out outfits together every game. Fast forward to where we are now and it’s night and day.”

On social media, the popular Instagram account @LeagueFits has become a major player in the dissemination of basketball fit pics to rabid fashion-forward hoop fans. The man behind the SLAM Magazine– affiliate account, Ian Pierno, is quick to note to me the importance of Shai in developing this relationship. “There’s been a fashion guy that defined every era of the NBA,” says Pierno. “In the 1970s, that was Clyde [Frazier]. In the 80s, that was Magic [Johnson]. 90s, that was [Dennis] Rodman. 2000s it was [Allen] Iverson. 2010s, it was [Russell] Westbrook. Shai is the 2020s guy. He’s going to guide the next 10 years of NBA fashion and take it to new heights. He’s taken the baton from Russ, who took it from Iverson, who took it from Rodman. He is the Michael Jordan of LeagueFits right now.”

“Failure helps you find areas of improvement. It makes you better. One of my favorite quotes is: ‘I turned my Ls into lessons and my flaws into weapons.’ I love that quote and I live by it. Funny enough, I actually wrote it myself.”

—Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

There’s an immediately identifiable symbiosis between the way Shai plays and the way he dresses. Both the product of hours of work, Shai explains: “One word I could use to describe the way I play and the way I dress is: effortless.” Watching him on TV, he makes everything look easy; he gets to his spot, pulls up, and the shot splashes through nylon. When you see him play up close, you can see the countless hours that go into making his game look so simple. He teases defenders with countless twitchy hesitations (“hezis,” in the parlance of basketball slang), baiting the man in front of him into shifting their weight ever so slightly to grant an opening to drive to the basket.

More than just being an unstoppable isolation player, Shai has led OKC’s young group of tenacious players to their position as one of the best teams in the league. “As unique as every individual is on the team, the way that we are able to seamlessly integrate our personalities with one another and mesh and gel both on and off the court blows my mind,” Shai notes, quick to give his teammates their flowers: “There’s no ego on this team. We play for the greater good of the team as a whole. We have our fun moments, but we know when it’s time to lock in. We are a serious group.”Shai went viral last year in a post-game interview with the line, “My whole life is consistent.” This was partially in response to his knack for scoring a whopping 30 points pretty much every game, but is actually part of a more foundational ideology he carries through his life: “I appreciate how much it resonated with a lot of people. I’m just a guy that sticks to a routine.”

For Shai, his routinized day starts with family: “The first thing I do when I wake up is check on my son and wife who have probably been awake for a few hours before I even open my eyes,” he explains. “I like to see what they’re up to and join in on the activities before I begin my day. My family inspires me in so many ways to get up and be great everyday.” The way Shai discusses his commitment to routine mirrors another great. “My biggest inspiration on the court has always been Kobe Bryant. I love every aspect of what he’s contributed to the game of basketball,” Shai notes, before adding his major off-the-court inspirations: “Off the court, my wife Hailey, my son Ares, and Virgil Abloh. I had the pleasure of knowing Abloh before he sadly passed away. His entire approach to everything fashion was so inspiring to me.”

Shai—who has a penchant for peppering his Instagram posts with lyrical self-penned captions—leaves me with thoughts on failure: “I don’t look at failing at something as a negative thing. In the moment, you might be down on yourself for not accomplishing whatever goal was in front of you, but in hindsight, you realize how much you were able to learn and take away from that failure. Experience is priceless. Failure helps you find areas of improvement. It makes you better. One of my favorite quotes is: ‘I turned my Ls into lessons and my flaws into weapons.’ I love that quote and I live by it. Funny enough, I actually wrote it myself.”

This story appears in the pages of VMAN 54: now available for pre-order!

Photography Alvaro Beamud Cortés

Fashion Nicola Formichetti

Creative Director / Editor-in-Chief Stephen Gan

Digital technician Dillon Padgette

1st Photo assistant Simone Triacca

2nd Photo Assistant Easton Oliver

Hair Bona Braids

Grooming Teresa Luz

Production Brandon Kobs, Ty McMahan

Studio Allsweet

Fashion Market Editor Liv Vitale

Retouching Camillo Bernardi Studio