Doris Burke Doubles Down on Calling SGA a ‘Free Throw Merchant’ During Thunder Game

A light-hearted jab at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from ESPN announcer Doris Burke during the Oklahoma City Thunder-Minnesota Timberwolves series may have rubbed some fans the wrong way. Burke, however, isn’t apologizing for what she said.

During Game 1 of the Thunder-T-Wolves series, Burke referred to Gilgeous-Alexander as a “free throw merchant” on-air. “There’s a reason NBA Twitter likes to call him the free throw merchant,” Burke told Mike Breen.

Burke has since received criticism for using a loose term recycled on social media during a national NBA broadcast, but the veteran announcer has no qualms about her line to this day.

“The situation this year reminds me a little of Dwayne Wade in the 2006 finals against Dallas when people were incensed at the number of free throws,” Burke explained. “So we talked about the storyline and we did that because in Minnesota 19,000 fans were chanting, ‘Free throw merchant.’

“We know the viewer at home can hear that, and if they can’t hear it they are wondering what’s being chanted. And so we felt going in as a broadcast team, this is a storyline—if it plays out where there’s a number of free throws happening—it’s something we need to discuss… Usually I can tell I feel like I’m doing a decent job when multiple fan bases are pissed off at me.”

The Timberwolves fans were indeed heckling Gilgeous-Alexander all throughout the series, and it arguably reached a point where Burke felt the need to address the term. Burke didn’t call SGA a free throw merchant herself, but rather stated that others (like the entirety of NBA twitter) were calling him that.

While one could argue Burke was simply giving the casual NBA fan some context on the viral narratives surrounding Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder, one could also say she didn’t necessarily need to give into the trolling.

With the Thunder set to face the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals, the buzz around alleged free throw merchant Gilgeous-Alexander likely won’t be going away anytime soon.

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