Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is feeling villainous after helping the Thunder complete a sweep of the Suns in the first round of the NBA playoffs Monday.
The reigning MVP poked fun at Suns guard Dillon Brooks with an Instagram post Tuesday. Gilgeous-Alexander referenced a moment in Game 2 when he hit a shot over Brooks, then pointed at his Canadian compatriot and laughed while the two ran back down the court.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 37 points in the 120-107 victory against Brooks and Phoenix that night. After the game, Brooks commented on Gilgeous-Alexander "flopping and failing" to get calls, while referring to him as "frail."
However, the 2025 NBA champion got the last laugh. He resurfaced that image of him and Brooks in an Instagram photo carousel. The last name on the guard's jersey was replaced to "Cancun On" with Brooks' No. 3 spelling out: "Cancun On 3."
The post's caption poked fun at Brooks' tendency to be the villain as Gilgeous-Alexander wrote: "everybody wants to be villainous until the brooms come out & the dust settles & you realize who the villain is." Brooks commented on the post: "Sounds like a ghost writer - The Villain."
The Cancun joke simply refers to a vacation spot for players after the season. However, the "Cancun on 3" saying dates back to Lakers guard Nick Van Exel in the 1998 playoffs. With Los Angeles down 3-0 and running out to begin warmups for Game 4, rather than saying, "One, two, three ... Lakers!" to break the huddle, Van Exel yelled, "One, two, three ... Cancun!"
The Canadian national team teammates had a warm embrace after the Thunder closed out the series Monday night. Gilgeous-Alexander complimented Brooks' growth postgame, calling it "impressive" how he has redefined himself as a player.
He also made sure to add that the in-game antics from his close friend don't impact him.
"Obviously, knowing Dillon, he's a great competitor, great guy. No matter what people say about him, he's a really good guy. ... So yeah, all that villain stuff, it doesn't faze me," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "I know exactly who Dillon is."
Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 33.8 points and 8.0 assists against the Suns, while Brooks put up 26.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game -- potentially preceding a trip to Cancun.