Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is always publicly thankful for what Hamilton has instilled in him.
And now the city is thanking him back. Big time.
As announced on Monday morning, the Shai Rally Day will be held at Hamilton Stadium on Thursday, August 7, at 3:30 p.m. A few hours before the Ticats’ only home game of the month: the Wall of Honour Game against the B.C. Lions. Tyler Ternowski, Gilgeous-Alexander’s Grade 10 basketball teammate at Sir Allan MacNab, will be suiting up at wide receiver for the Cats in that game.
At the Shai Rally Day, Mayor Andrea Horwath will bestow SGA with the first Key to the City awarded by a Mayor in the last 27 years. He will be honoured again in a special tribute during the Ticat game, the first he’s attended since 2022.
The positive attention SGA, now widely considered the best basketball player on the planet, has brought to this city has been nothing short of remarkable. He remains in touch with family and friends here, and he and his wife Hailey Summers and year-old son Ares are deeply connected to the city.
In May, when Gilgeous-Alexander accepted the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award, he shouted out “the one and only Hailey Summers.”
“Hailey Summers, thank you for everything you are — for me, for our son, Ares. You were the first person to show me what love really meant … what sacrifice really meant,” he said. “And I can’t wait to spend the rest of this journey called life with you.”
Gilgeous-Alexander added, “Thank you for everything. I wouldn’t be the man I am, I wouldn’t be the player I am, I wouldn’t be the father I am, without you. Thank you.”
That shout-out prompted People magazine’s online version to write about Hailey Summers, who’s also from Hamilton, played basketball, football and soccer at St. Mary Catholic Secondary School, then went on to play varsity soccer at the University of Albany, where she was team captain and wore No. 2, the same number as her now-husband. They married on Valentine’s Day last year.
Millions of people read that People article, and throughout it, Hamilton was mentioned numerous times. A city couldn’t buy that kind of productive exposure. But it was a continuation of the homage that SGA and his family have always paid to the city he moved to when he was 11 years old.
It’s a dream come true, and for dreams to come true, it takes a village
He didn’t make the St. Thomas More junior team in ninth grade, and played midget, then switched to MacNab before heading to Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in Tennessee for his final two years of high school, then spent two college years at Kentucky before the Charlotte Hornets picked him 11th overall in the 2018 draft and he was traded the same day to the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers sent him and five first-round draft picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder six years ago this week in the Paul George deal, and he became the franchise’s cornerstone. Neither the Clippers nor the Hornets would make those deals if they had a chance to redo them, but Oklahoma City certainly would.
This season, he became only the fourth player to be selected as MVP in both the regular season and NBA finals, while winning the league scoring title in the same year. The other three are relatively well-known: Michael Jordan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal.
He’s a three-time NBA all-star, is on the cover of NBA 2K26, and six months ago launched his first signature shoe, the Converse SHAI 001, and one of the colours, ‘Hail Clay’, was “inspired by the colour of the eyes of my Most Valuable Person, my beautiful wife Hailey,” he posted on Instagram.
Last week, he was named the best male athlete in the annual ESPY Awards—presented by ESPN—while Olympic gymnast champion Simone Biles won as best female athlete.
“It’s a dream come true, and for dreams to come true, it takes a village,” Gilgeous-Alexander said and thanked his wife, his parents, brothers and others close to him. “Those names probably don’t mean much to anyone, but to me, they mean the world.”
Gilgeous-Alexander has strong principles, took part in the Basketball Without Borders camp, run by the NBA and FIBA, and committed early to playing for Canada for three years in the bid to make the 2024 Olympics, which they did after a bronze medal at the 2023 World Cup, Canada’s first global basketball medal since the 1936 Olympics. The four-year deal he just signed with the Thunder—on, appropriately, Canada Day—not only keeps him in Oklahoma City; some analysts argue that it could save the franchise as much as $100 million in the long run, which will help obtain other players to fortify future title drives.
Proud of his heritage, Gilgeous-Alexander—the best-dressed player in the NBA—wrapped his lower body in the Canadian flag when the Thunder celebrated their NBA title.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s cousin Nickeil Alexander-Walker is a star with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and his whole family is athletic: his brother Thomasi also played college and pro basketball, their mother Charmaine Gilgeous ran in the 400 metres for Antigua and Barbuda in the 1992 Summer Olympics, and his father Vaughn won a Toronto city high school basketball title and coached his sons and their cousin.
Gilgeous-Alexander said of Shai Rally Day, “Hamilton is the city where I grew up, and it shaped the most pivotal years of my life. It laid the foundation not only for who I am as a basketball player, but for the man I’ve become. I wouldn’t be who I am today without this city, and I’m deeply grateful for the continued love and support.”
City manager Marnie Cluckie added, “We are incredibly excited to host the Shai Rally Day and honour his remarkable success.
“As a local athlete who has gone on to achieve greatness, Shai shows us what’s possible when you follow your passion and work tirelessly for your dreams. We are incredibly proud and excited for Hamiltonians to come together in the community.”
The Shai Rally Day is open to the public from 3:30–4:30 p.m. and is free of charge. However, pre-registration is required to obtain tickets at Ticats.ca/ShaiDay.
That ticket does not include admission to the 7:30 p.m. Wall of Fame Game at which Gilgeous-Alexander will be further honoured. You can purchase tickets for that at Ticketmaster.
