Mark Daigneault Offers Update on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Quad Injury

The Oklahoma City Thunder head coach offered an update on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's rehab process.

Mar 10, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder (52-24) are starring down the barrel of being a three-seed in the Western Conference. After spending a majority of the season vying for the top spot a three-game road skid has made it an uphill climb for the Bricktown boys who sit a game and a half out of the first place Minnesota Timberwolves.

Part of the reason for this slide has been the absence of superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the MVP candidate has missed the last three contests and will miss a fourth game in Charlotte as he rehabs a quad injury in Oklahoma City.

Mark Daigneault was asked for an update on Gilgeous-Alexander's status where he revealed the status of the superstar.

“Yeah, I mean, he's in the same spot pretty much, improving. Not here tonight," Daigneault said "We actually sent him back to Oklahoma City [After Wednesday's game against Boston]."

The OKC Thunder bench boss explained the reasoning behind sending the star home early from this eight-day road swing.

"[The] Reasoning for that is just we need to make sure he doesn't decondition during this time, and gym access on the road is much more difficult to come by. And so we kind of determined he wouldn't be playing in the last two games [of the road trip], and so he went back [to Oklahoma City]. He's there right now, he's training in our facility with our resources and our people. That was just like a tactical decision on our part," Daigneault explained.

So as the Oklahoma City Thunder will head to Charlotte to battle the Hornets and wrap up their road slate, the next available game for Gilgeous-Alexander would come on Tuesday against the Sacramento Kings. This would give the star a minimum of eight days off should he participate in the opening game of a four-game home stretch to end the regular season.

This seems to be relatively promising news for the 31-point-per-game scorer that he is able to do more intensive court work than what can be done on the road away from your team facility.

While his status for Sunday is cemented, Gilgeous-Alexander's availability for Tuesday's tilt against the Kings remains in question as the OKC Thunder guard works on his conditioning back home.

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