A controversial foul called on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ended the Thunder's season

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s stellar season came to a close on Saturday night in the 2024 NBA Playoffs with a fairly controversial foul called on MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

With the Thunder up by a point with mere seconds to go, Gilgeous-Alexander did his best to block a possible 3-point attempt by Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington.

However, Gilgeous-Alexander’s leaping block ultimately made contact with Washington’s arm during the attempt, which got called for a shooting foul. Washington held onto the ball during the contact, with gave the refs more grounds to make the call on Gilgeous-Alexander.

Oklahoma City tried to challenge the call with the logic that Gilgeous-Alexander made contact with the ball first on his block attempt, but the refs upheld their decision for Washington hit the game-clinching free throws.

NBA fans were divided on if Gilgeous-Alexander actually did something on the play worthy of a foul, or if he was the unfortunate recipient of a questionable call that ended his team’s playoff run.

We may never know for sure if this was the right call, but the results are indeed finite.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN.