SGA Appears to Shade Critics in Cryptic IG Photo, 'Free Smoke Merchant'

Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander appeared to take a shot at his critics in a recent social media post.

Gilgeous-Alexander made an Instagram post on Thursday and captioned it "free smoke merchant."

That caption seems to be alluding to the term "free throw merchant," which some have called Gilgeous-Alexander in response to how many free throws he takes.

Gilgeous-Alexander is known for getting to the line at a high rate. During his MVP campaign last year, he had the second-most free throw attempts per game behind Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

This year, Gilgeous-Alexander is taking the third-most free throws per game after Luka Dončić of the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers star Deni Avdija.

While some fans may take issue with Gilgeous-Alexander's free throws, it's hard to criticize him too much considering how well he's playing. He's putting up the second-most points per game (32) while leading the Thunder to the best record in the West at 37-8.