The NBA Enters Its SGA Era

Every weekday morning during the NBA offseason, a gleaming black Cadillac Escalade pulls into the driveway of an unremarkable brick building in an unremarkable office park in an unremarkable suburb of Toronto at 6 a.m. sharp. On this particular Thursday in early September, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hops out of the back seat looking fresh off the set of a Hype Williams video: cropped tactical vest, billowing Balenciaga track pants, backwards cap over a taut durag, all the same inky shade of black. The Oklahoma City Thunder star glides inside, trousers swishing as he walks, past a vacant reception desk and down an unlit hallway until he emerges into the fluorescent-lit expanse of the gym. Inside, there are three full-size basketball courts and a couple stands of bleachers. Along the back wall is an enormous mural of an NBA-ified Mount Rushmore: Jordan, LeBron, Kareem, Kobe.