Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was born on July 12, 1998 in Toronto, Ontario.Growing up in Hamilton, he did not make the St. Thomas More junior team in grade 9 and subsequently played on the school's midget squad. He ended up winning team MVP and the midget boys' city championship.A four-star recruit (by ESPN), Gilgeous-Alexander originally committed to Florida, but re-opened his recruitment in October 2016. His final five schools were Kentucky, Kansas, Syracuse, Texas and UNLV. The following month, he announced his decision to play college basketball at Kentucky. At the 2017 Nike Hoop Summit, he poured in eleven points in 21:24 minutes of action, representing the World Select Team.Shai Gilgeous-Alexander started the 2017-18 season as a reserve, sitting behind freshman point guard Quade Green, but still averaged over 30 minutes per game.When he first stepped on the University of Kentucky's campus, Gilgeous-Alexander had long hair. However, he cut his hair early in the season and some say this started his progression from sixth man to starting point guard. On April 9, 2018, he declared for the 2018 NBA Draft.On June 21, 2018, Gilgeous-Alexander was selected with the eleventh overall pick by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2018 NBA draft, before being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers the same day, in exchange for Miles Bridges, the pick after him. He went on the play for the team in the 2018 NBA Summer League, where he averaged 19 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2.3 steals per game.On July 10, 2019, the Clippers traded Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, five first-round draft picks, and the rights to swap two other first round picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder for NBA All-Star player Paul George..On October 8, 2019, Gilgeous-Alexander made his preseason debut with the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Dallas Mavericks. He recorded 24 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist in a 119-104 win over the Mavericks.