OKC Thunder Head Coach Mark Daigneault a Candidate to Coach Western Conference All-Star Team
Just one year after the Oklahoma City Thunder were fighting for a Play-In berth, head coach Mark Daigneault has led his team to another impressive season.
Over halfway through the year, OKC holds the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, leading the Timberwolves by half of a game heading into the Thunder's Sunday afternoon matchup against Detroit.
With a 32-13 record, Oklahoma City is one game ahead of the Denver Nuggets and one and a half games ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers atop a competitive Western Conference leaderboard.
If Daigneault's team is able to maintain their position at the top of the conference through Feb. 4, the 38-year-old head coach would be awarded the coaching position for the Western Conference All-Star team.
Including Sunday's matchup against the Pistons, OKC has five games until the cutoff date to decide which head coach will lead the Western Conference. On Monday, the Thunder have a tough game against the Timberwolves followed by a showdown with the defending champion Nuggets on Wednesday.
On Friday, Feb. 2, Daigneault's team will take on the Charlotte Hornets and on Feb. 4, Oklahoma City meets the Raptors. If OKC manages to stay in first place after this stretch, Daigneault will coach the All-Star Game for the first time in his career.
Additionally, if the Thunder end up in second place after Feb. 4 with the Denver Nuggets holding the No. 1 seed, Daigneault would still be named one of the All-Star game's two head coaches.
Since Denver head coach Michael Malone represented the Western Conference last season, he is ineligible to coach the team again this year.
With the fifth-place Sacramento Kings five and a half games back of the Thunder, it appears that either Daigneault, Tyronn Lue or Chris Finch will coach the Western Conference in this year's All-Star Game.
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named an All-Star starter on Thursday evening. The 2024 NBA All-Star Game is set for Sunday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. in Indianapolis, IN.
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