Why is Shai being overlooked as the "face of the league"

[Enso]

His game is not pleasing enough to the trained or untrained eye, thats why he'll never be the face of the league.

[badpotato]

He flops to much, he's not a fighter, he's a baiter., oh and he's not American, pretty much covers the topic.

[Drakeem]

We seem to act like 'face of the league' is something that we choose, rather than it just happening. If you have to ask 'are they the face of the league?' or 'should they be the face of the league' then they are absolutely not 'the face of the league'.

SGA isn't being overlooked as the 'face of the league'. He just isn't the 'face of the league'. If he had the right type of game and charisma and success, then he'd already have been elevated. In much the same manner than Bird and Magic, then Jordan, and eventually LeBron, Curry and Durant were. For whatever reason - like so many other stars - he doesn't have the cut through to become synonymous with the league.

This. People are acting like there's a specific formula. When it DOES happen, trust me we'll all know well enough. It's not one of those things you can quantify, you just know.

[CoP]

He's not American, he's homely-looking, he doesn't have a very exciting personality, and he plays for a team that most casual fans don't care about. He's barely top 10 in jersey sales. Casual fans don't really care about him, at least not yet.

[MrGoat]

Same reason why Jokic, Embiid, Giannis, and Luka aren’t.

He’s not American.

This is such a lazy argument. The NBA essentially tapped Luka Doncic as the next face of the league by orchestrating the trade to the Lakers. Once the league sends a top tier center there for pennies on the dollar the Lakers will win a title and Luka will be the next face of the league. And he's not American

[tamaraw08]

He's not American, he's homely-looking, he doesn't have a very exciting personality, and he plays for a team that most casual fans don't care about. He's barely top 10 in jersey sales. Casual fans don't really care about him, at least not yet.

If we use your basis about nationality, team he plays for, jersey sales and fans, then why can't we say Jason Tatum is the face of the NBA?
btW, Jason also doesn't foul bait and beg refs to call fouls.
Most of all, the guy has WON it all, as the best player on his team.

[NZB2323]

He's not American, he's homely-looking, he doesn't have a very exciting personality, and he plays for a team that most casual fans don't care about. He's barely top 10 in jersey sales. Casual fans don't really care about him, at least not yet.

If we use your basis about nationality, team he plays for, jersey sales and fans, then why can't we say Jason Tatum is the face of the NBA?
btW, Jason also doesn't foul bait and beg refs to call fouls.
Most of all, the guy has WON it all, as the best player on his team.

Luka led the league in jersey sales.

[tamaraw08]

He's not American, he's homely-looking, he doesn't have a very exciting personality, and he plays for a team that most casual fans don't care about. He's barely top 10 in jersey sales. Casual fans don't really care about him, at least not yet.

If we use your basis about nationality, team he plays for, jersey sales and fans, then why can't we say Jason Tatum is the face of the NBA?
btW, Jason also doesn't foul bait and beg refs to call fouls.
Most of all, the guy has WON it all, as the best player on his team.

Luka led the league in jersey sales.

I know but Luka is not american and Dallas was not exactly top 12 in market size.
Tatum is american, 4th highest jersey sales, playing for a ton of rabid Celtics fans AND won a ring already.

[CoP]

He's not American, he's homely-looking, he doesn't have a very exciting personality, and he plays for a team that most casual fans don't care about. He's barely top 10 in jersey sales. Casual fans don't really care about him, at least not yet.

If we use your basis about nationality, team he plays for, jersey sales and fans, then why can't we say Jason Tatum is the face of the NBA?
btW, Jason also doesn't foul bait and beg refs to call fouls.
Most of all, the guy has WON it all, as the best player on his team.

Tatum doesn't have an exciting personality. He's kind of boring.

[bluemj32]

In terms of entertainment he's considered "boring". The same reason why Timmy D was never considered either.
Even Jokic is overlooked too.

Sent from my Pixel 6 using RealGM mobile app

[sfernald]

[tamaraw08]

He's not American, he's homely-looking, he doesn't have a very exciting personality, and he plays for a team that most casual fans don't care about. He's barely top 10 in jersey sales. Casual fans don't really care about him, at least not yet.

If we use your basis about nationality, team he plays for, jersey sales and fans, then why can't we say Jason Tatum is the face of the NBA?
btW, Jason also doesn't foul bait and beg refs to call fouls.
Most of all, the guy has WON it all, as the best player on his team.

Tatum doesn't have an exciting personality. He's kind of boring.

So in essence, it has nothing to do with citizenship, or jersey sales and/or size of the market of his team but this "personality" thing.
Does having a signature gesture work? Steph with his nite nite or shimmy, Lebron and his silencer? I believe having that Smirk from Ant Edwards almost work. Kobe and MJ had that scowl too.

[NZB2323]

If we use your basis about nationality, team he plays for, jersey sales and fans, then why can't we say Jason Tatum is the face of the NBA?
btW, Jason also doesn't foul bait and beg refs to call fouls.
Most of all, the guy has WON it all, as the best player on his team.

Luka led the league in jersey sales.

I know but Luka is not american and Dallas was not exactly top 12 in market size.
Tatum is american, 4th highest jersey sales, playing for a ton of rabid Celtics fans AND won a ring already.

Face of the league has nothing to do with rings. Jerry West was face of the league over Russell, and Iverson was face of the league over Duncan.

4th highest in jersey sales is not face of the league. ESPN talks about Luka. Luka getting traded was the story of the season. Luka led the league in jersey sales. Luka plays for the most popular team. Luka is the face of the league.

[CoP]

Read on Twitter

[stillgotgame]

Cause his #1 skill is foul-baiting.

Read on Twitter

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[Special_Puppy]

I don't think not being American is that big a deal for Shai. His personality, very small market, being a late bloomer, very small market, not being an explosive athlete, very small market are all the things holding him back

[ChuckChilly]

Complicated and hyphenated last name. Even fans don't know how to spell it.

Drop the Gilgeous and he's Hollywood.

Hyphenated names are stupid. The family should just come up with their own original name instead of that nonsense.

[Slade3]

Complicated and hyphenated last name. Even fans don't know how to spell it.

Drop the Gilgeous and he's Hollywood.

Hyphenated names are stupid. The family should just come up with their own original name instead of that nonsense.

You are criticizing a person's culture and history. God forbid that some random people can't pronounce their name.

[ChuckChilly]

Complicated and hyphenated last name. Even fans don't know how to spell it.

Drop the Gilgeous and he's Hollywood.

Hyphenated names are stupid. The family should just come up with their own original name instead of that nonsense.

You are criticizing a person's culture and history. God forbid that some random people can't pronounce their name.

What happens when a child marries someone with a hyphenated name? And so on and so forth. Someone at some point is going to have to decide on a single name anyway to avoid the chaos.

[Narigo]

Because he's Canadian