“I think it will help the other players that were playing in the Finals as well.” Gilgeous-Alexander was selected 11th overall by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2018 NBA Draft but was traded the same day to the Los Angeles Clippers. After one season in L.A., he was sent to Oklahoma City in a blockbuster deal that brought all-star guard Paul George to the Clippers. TSN basketball commentator Tamika Nurse, who is also from Hamilton, said that how Gilgeous-Alexander carries himself through difficult times perfectly embodies the city’s ethos. “Hamilton is built on blue-collar workers, Steeltown, they call it,” she said. “A lunch pail and hard hat kinda town, and that’s exactly what he is. “He really had to work hard. He really had to prove some doubters wrong. This is a guy who was drafted and then traded and then traded again, right?”