Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nickeil Alexander-Walker more than cousins clashing in Western Conference finals

MINNEAPOLIS – A two-sided pendant hangs from a lanyard around Vaughn Alexander’s neck, showcasing an NBA player dear to his heart on each side. On one side is his superstar son, 2025 NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the other is a nephew he has raised as a son in Minnesota Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker. The two brotherly cousins sharing the last name Alexander are in the midst of a family feud with an NBA Finals spot on the line.

“They’re really more than cousins,” Vaughn said. “They’re really like Day 1 brothers, best friends. Slept in the same bed. Slept in the same house most of their life.

“So, the blood relationship you have, they’re cousins. But they’re brothers. Sister’s son, but really my son.”

The Thunder host the Timberwolves in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals on Wednesday in Oklahoma City. Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder are one win away from the NBA Finals as they hold a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

When asked about being one win away from his childhood dream of making the NBA Finals, Gilgeous-Alexander said: “It’s tough. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t. We know how close we are, but yet we are still so far away. To beat a team like this, it takes a lot of hard minutes doing the right things. We just got to take it one possession at a time. One quarter at a time. And hopefully, eventually, we get the game.”

Gilgeous-Alexander was recently named the MVP, and Alexander-Walker is a key reserve for the Timberwolves. They have also been teammates in high school, AAU and on the Canadian national men’s basketball team. But it’s safe to say the brotherly love has taken a back seat during the Western Conference finals.

“For both of us to be where we are is special, and to compete against each other is even more special,” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “But I am trying to take his head off for sure, completely.”

On the results he is hoping for, Nickeil Alexander-Walker said: “He gets MVP. I get a ticket to the Finals. To me, that works. If I can get a [championship] ring this year and he can get MVP, we’re all happy.”

Vaughn Alexander was a high school basketball star at Georges Vanier Secondary School in Toronto, winning a North York League championship as a senior. He and former Olympic track athlete Charmane Gilgeous became the proud parents of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on July 12, 1998, in Toronto. Not long afterward, Vaughn Alexander’s sister, Nicole, gave birth to Nickeil Alexander-Walker on Sept. 2, 1998, in Toronto.

Vaughn and Nicole Alexander are close siblings who lived near one another as the boys were growing up. And with Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s father not present, Vaughn enthusiastically stepped into the father role.

“My uncle Vaughn was there just as a support system,” Nickeil Alexander-Walker said. “He gave me life lessons about what being a man was like and what men do in certain situations. I didn’t really understand why he was so hard on me, especially because at the time I knew he was my uncle and I was still growing through a lot of the anger issues that you have when you are younger without a dad there. And I didn’t understand the lessons quite like I do now when I can look back and process it all.

“But those lessons that he was giving me and just sharing with me and trying to teach me at the time, because he’s my uncle, I was like, ‘Why is he so hard on me? Why is he so hard on me?’ And it was really just because he wanted me to understand what it felt like to be a man.”

Said Vaughn Alexander: “I look at Nickeil like my son. His dad has not been around all the time, so he needed a father figure.”

Nickeil was over at Vaughn’s home during his youth, spending time with his uncle. It was during their youth that he and his first cousins, Shai and his younger brother Thomasi Gilgeous-Alexander, built a brotherlike relationship. Former Virginia Tech men’s basketball coach Buzz Williams once affectionately described Nickeil and Shai as “Irish twins,” a term used to describe siblings born to the same mother within a year’s time.

“If you know how close we are, he’s literally like my second brother,” Shai said. “He’s been through every stage of life with me. Picking up a basketball to going to prep school to making it to the NBA, we’ve gone through every step of life together.”

Said Nickeil: “We’re about a month and a half apart. So, for me, as long as I can remember, like, my whole life, he’s just been right by my side. My mom and his dad, Vaughn, are super-close, like as close as brothers and sisters can get. And the way we grew up playing basketball all the time, hanging around each other all the time, it was almost like his dad became my dad.”

Vaughn started Shai and Nickeil playing basketball on a children’s Fisher Price plastic hoop. They began playing structured basketball around 5 or 6 years old. As they got older and bigger, they went to play at a YMCA and at a nearby park together regularly. Vaughn used to pit Shai and Nickeil against each other to bring out their competitive spirit and yearning to get better. On occasion, the 1-on-1 basketball battles got contentious.

“That turned it into them getting into a fight at the end of the day for sure, 100 percent,” Vaughn said. “When I come back [home], someone’s either crying or someone’s face is messed up depending on who won.”

Vaughn said he knew Shai and Nickeil could be special basketball players when at 5 years old they were doing things most 10-year-olds were doing, whether it was shooting with both hands or footwork moves. He preached work ethic, practicing harder than everyone else and confidence. Vaughn said both boys at about 9 years old temporarily tuned him out due to his tough love.

“I did have a comment [to Vaughn] about him being too hard on [Nickeil] a lot of times,” Nicole Walker said. “But Nickeil, at that point, was technically considered better than Shai. I felt like it wasn’t warranted and he would try to go at him. But he was trying to propel him and let him know that, ‘You can’t stay stagnant. You have to be better. And to be better, you have to go the extra mile.’ That was the reason he was so tough on him because he wanted him to be better. It was a pain in my ass, but at the end of the day, it was all love.”

As the two continued to grow into good players, Vaughn said he was challenged finding solid AAU basketball programs in a hockey-loving town. So, Vaughn moved the boys to different AAU programs and high schools to find the right fit for growth. Vaughn’s lessons have had a lasting impact on Nickeil and Shai.

“One of the things that we weren’t allowed to do was fold; [we had to] have pride in who we are,” Nickeil said. “No matter what anybody can say, nobody would be – and not in an arrogant way – better than us. I think when you grow up without a dad, you’re looking for acceptance anywhere, and he was teaching me at a young age that the acceptance comes from within, and the more that I can get used to appreciating myself for who I am, the less I would need it from anybody else.”

Vaughn also made Shai and Nickeil watch NBA games in entirety with the sound off to learn about the game and increase their basketball IQ. Such television watching would mean that Nickeil and Shai couldn’t binge as much kids television as they wanted to. Nickeil credits Vaughn for developing his basketball IQ.

“I’ll come in from work sometimes and I’m always like, ‘Watch the game,’ ” Vaughn said. “But they’re kids, right? They have on Power Rangers. So, I come in, I hear, ‘The TV changing daddy is home.’ I said, ‘What were you guys doing just now when I walked in the room?’ They switched the channel because they were watching some Miley Cyrus [expletive], right? And I’m like, ‘Yo, the game’s on. What are you doing? Watch the game.’

“But you know, kids, even right now, the game is boring to watch for them, right? It’s like, ‘I want to play or I want to do video games.’ No, watch the game. You learn a lot, especially when guys like [former NBA head coach and television analyst] Hubie Brown are talking the game.”

Said Nickeil: “Every time the TVs on, if there’s an NBA game on, I had to watch it. [Vaughn] would say, ‘You can’t love basketball and not watch it. You have to be a student of the game. You have to learn.’ Listen to what the commentators are saying. Sometimes he’d be watching a game and he’d throw in, like, little pop quizzes, like, ‘Did you hear that? What did he say? Why did he say that?’ ”

For a stronger basketball challenge, Nickeil and Shai moved together to the United States to play prep school basketball for Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They shared a room in Hamilton Heights Christian Academy head coach Zach Ferrell’s home. With Ferrell taking their cell phones at bedtime, Shai and Nickeil used to stay up late at night in their room daydreaming about being in the NBA.

“Our beds [weren’t] far apart … So, we would just be talking,” Nickeil said. “We would practice interviews, postgame. ‘How does it feel having a 50-point night?’ Or just talking about, ‘Man, I want to go to the conference finals or I want to win a ring, or if I win a ring, I’m going to do this. This is going to be craziest feeling playing against this. What do you think your first bucket’s gonna be?’ Just whatever it was. But it’s cool to know that those kids are here now.”

When it came to going to college, however, they separated, as Shai signed with Kentucky and Nickeil with Virginia Tech.

Shai landed in the NBA first as the 11th overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft with his draft rights being acquired by the Los Angeles Clippers. A year later, Nickeil was selected with the 17th overall pick by the Brooklyn Nets with his draft rights being acquired by the New Orleans Pelicans. With Shai and Vaughn at Nickeil’s draft table, the three shared a celebratory hug, led by Vaughn clenching them both and saying, “We did it our way.”

“I just gave my mom a hug,” Nickeil said. “And then, next thing you know, I’m getting grabbed. It was a cool moment for him, especially because [of] I think the gratification and the satisfaction that he had knowing the two little kids who love Disney Channel that he groomed into men and helped become great basketball players.”

Shai’s days with the Clippers lasted just one season as he was dealt to the then-rebuilding Thunder on July 10, 2019, with Danilo Gallinari and five first-round draft picks for nine-time All-Star forward Paul George. While the trade made during NBA Summer League rocked Shai, his father thought it was a blessing in disguise.

“It was a big shock at first,” Vaughn said. “But then when me and Shai sat down and thought about it, I was like, ‘You know what? It’s your time, bro. In L.A, you’re doing well, playing well, second-team All-Rookie and all that stuff. But you know what? They didn’t really let you go yet. You’re playing behind Lou [Williams], Avery Bradley, Patrick Beverley. And no disrespect to those guys, but they ain’t point guards. And then you were bringing up the ball and then standing in the corner shooting threes. That’s not who you are.

“‘Shai, you know what’s gonna happen right now. You’re about to get yours. You’re about to be Shai. So, it’s a blessing in disguise.’ ”

Vaughn was absolutely correct as Shai has gone on to become an NBA star with Oklahoma City and the face of the franchise.

Shai has become a two-time All-NBA selection and three-time All-Star with the Thunder. With him leading the way, the Thunder have been the Western Conference’s top playoff seed two years in a row and had an NBA-best 68 wins this season. Gilgeous-Alexander also won his first MVP award last week after averaging a league-best 32.7 points per game, as well as 6.4 assists and 5.0 rebounds during the regular season.

Even though Shai was favored to win MVP, Nickeil was taken aback by the reality of the news.

“I just put my phone down in Oklahoma, just sitting in my [hotel] room, just shocked,” Nickeil said of learning Shai won MVP “…And sometimes you’re like, ‘What is going on?’ God is real. And it’s a great feeling, honestly. Sometimes you do have to pinch yourself and step back because when you’re on this path of trying to be great and trying to accomplish all these things, you can miss the journey that you’re in.”

Shai said during his NBA MVP press conference that he credited his father for teaching him the game of basketball. He also said that his family upbringing has kept him humble.

“My family, for sure, they don’t ever let whatever’s going on around get to my head or gas me up,” Shai said. “They’re always honest with me, open with me and they don’t ever waver with me no matter what. No matter what I just achieved, no matter what I didn’t achieve, they’re the same people when I walked through the door.

“And that’s been inspiring for me. That’s shown me not only who they are as humans, but the balance that you have to have in life to take steps forward and succeed.”

Due to a timing misunderstanding, Vaughn didn’t make the MVP announcement ceremony in Oklahoma City on May 24. So, instead, he threw a watch party in Toronto with a Shai MVP cake and T-shirts with his buddies on hand. He was there when his son was given the MVP trophy in Oklahoma City by NBA commissioner Adam Silver before Game 4 on May 25.

“I was on cloud nine, man. I was making a lot of noise in the restaurant,” Vaughn said.

For Nickeil, his NBA journey has been a much tougher climb.

Nickeil averaged 9.9 points per game primarily as a reserve for the Pelicans from 2019 to 2022. He was part of a three-team trade that brought C.J. McCollum to the Pelicans and sent him to the Utah Jazz on Feb. 9, 2022. Nickeil’s role lessened with the Jazz (5.5 points per game in 13.3 minutes per game over 51 contests) and he was a throw-in to another trade that sent him and guard Mike Conley Jr. to the Timberwolves in a three-team trade on Feb. 9, 2023.

After worrying about potentially having to play overseas instead, Nickeil re-signed with the Timberwolves to a two-year, $9 million contract in the summer of 2023. Today, Nickeil is a key contributor off the bench for the Timberwolves and is expected to be a coveted unrestricted free agent this summer.

Vaughn believes his nephew is just beginning his stride to NBA stardom.

“Shai’s got this meteoric rise and you got kind of the opposite [with Nickeil],” Vaughn said. “But they’re both my people. So, it gives me that understanding of how to tell a kid that, ‘Yo, don’t worry if you’re not getting the hype right now or you’re getting this fight from your coach or you’re getting cut from a team or whatever the case may be. If you really got it, kid, keep working at it. And the truth will come. The proof rises to the top. …’

“We know how to deal with the rough times. And because we know that we believe in ourselves, we just bet on ourselves. And that’s what Nickeil is doing right now. He’s a free agent this year. Things are looking better.”

Nickeil had a team-high 23 points and five 3-pointers off the bench in the Game 4 loss. Shai wasn’t surprised about the impact his cousin made.

“He was really good tonight. I felt like he barely missed,” Shai said. “I’m not completely surprised. I know what type of basketball player he is. The night he had tonight, he is very capable of every night. It’s only a matter of time until he grows. And yet, just being out there on this stage – going against each other for what it felt like half the game – was super-fun.”

As the NBA playoffs began, the families realized that it was possible that the Thunder and Timberwolves could play in the Western Conference finals. The Timberwolves advanced to the conference finals first, taking out the Golden State Warriors in five games. The Thunder advanced after beating the Denver Nuggets in a deciding Game 7.

Once a Thunder-Timberwolves Western Conference finals became official, Vaughn’s sister called with a daunting message.

“I got a text from my sister right away. She’s like, ‘Yeah, it’s on now. It’s war now,’ ” Vaughn said.

“This is something we’ve been dreaming about our whole lives,” Shai said.

Someone in the Alexander family is going to their first-ever NBA Finals. Someone in the family is going to lose and won’t be going. There is no happy medium.

But the love a conflicted Vaughn has for his two sons in the NBA will never change.

“It’s like when Shai’s driving and Nickeil is covering him, I’m like, ‘Go, Shai. No, no, don’t go Shai. Nickeil, get him. No, no, no. Shai, go,’ ” Vaughn said. “It’s crazy, bro. But at the end of the day, that’s a good problem to have.”