Desperately needing a victory to stay off the brink of elimination, the Minnesota Timberwolves blitzed the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals and led 72-41 at halftime. It's safe to say the Target Center crowd thoroughly enjoyed themselves as a big lead grew even larger and ballooned to a 31-point cushion.
There wasn't much joy for Timberwolves fans to be had in the first two games of the series but given some confidence, they felt emboldened to welcome Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to town with a derisive chant when the Thunder star stepped to the free throw line.
Chants of "free throw merchant" could be heard as Gilgeous-Alexander lined up his attempts from the free-throw stripe.
The whole arena chanting “FREE THROW MERCHANT” at SGA 😭pic.twitter.com/WbczU5AKrr
— BricksCenter (@BricksCenter) May 25, 2025
The NBA's MVP gets to the line a lot and it's a huge part of his offensive arsenal. Some don't much care for the way he lets officials know that he's taking contact and coined the term to diminish his accomplishments. ESPN/ABC's Doris Burke alluded to the narrative earlier in the series when Gilgeous-Alexander was enjoying a consistent march to the line.
All of this is to be expected as hostile territory gets even more hostile during the playoffs. But it's worth wondering just how rare it is to hear the word "merchant" in a sports chant.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Timberwolves Fans Serenade Shai Gilgeous-Alexander With 'Free Throw Merchant' Chant.
