After being listed as questionable for four consecutive games with right ankle soreness, Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault provided a clearer picture of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s health.
As mentioned, Gilgeous-Alexander has been listed on the injury report for four straight games now with right ankle soreness. Gilgeous-Alexander has been able to play in three of those four games with his only missed time coming against the Orlando Magic this past Sunday.
Daigneault mentioned after Monday’s loss to the Boston Celtics that the right ankle soreness is going to be something the team deals with day to day due to Gilgeous-Alexander’s ankle not responding greatly to treatment after games.
“[Gilgeous-Alexander] is feeling good, but [his ankle] not responding great after every game that’s why he is day by day and questionable on all these reports,” said Daigneault. “We have to see tomorrow morning where he is at.”
Gilgeous-Alexander also expressed a similar sentiment after the game as he said his ankle is sore after games and that he tries to take it day by day.
Daigneault also previously mentioned that the plan is for Gilgeous-Alexander to sit out one of the nights on back-to-backs for the rest of the season, which is a pretty easy decision to make considering there’s only 10 games and only one more back-to-back set left.
Honestly, if I were the Thunder, Gilgeous-Alexander has nothing left to prove in these final 10 games that most don’t already know. Especially in a rebuilding season, there’s no point in risking further injuring your franchise player just to play meaningless NBA games that don’t really matter in the long run. That is especially true in Gilgeous-Alexander’s case where he already has a history of feet/ankle problems as he missed the second half of last season due to plantar fasciitis and missed several games due to an ankle sprain earlier this year.
