After the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the New Orleans Pelicans last night (3/26), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander told NBA reporters that he’s dealing with a quad injury.
Gilgeous-Alexander said he was injured against the Utah Jazz on March 20.
Gilgeous-Alexander hasn’t missed a game since getting hurt versus the Jazz. He’s one of the toughest players in the NBA.
The Thunder are in second place in the Western Conference standings with a stellar record of 50-21. They are only a half-game back of the Denver Nuggets for first place.
Gilgeous-Alexander is having a stellar season for the Thunder. The two-time All-Star is averaging 30.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.3 assists while shooting 54.0% from the field, 36.7% from beyond the arc and 87.1% from the free-throw line.
Gilgeous-Alexander is second in the NBA in points, third in points per game, 12th in assists, 17th in assists per game, first in steals and first in steals per game.
During a February interview with NBA reporter Tim MacMahon of ESPN, Gilgeous-Alexander admitted that he used the Los Angeles Clippers trading him to the Thunder for Paul George as “motivation” to become a superstar.
The Clippers traded Gilgeous-Alexander and a bevy of draft picks to the Thunder for George in July 2019.
“I didn’t see it coming,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I’m not like, ‘Why would you do that?’ It made sense. I think Paul just came off like an MVP-caliber year. … I used it a little bit as motivation just to get better and really turn myself into that caliber of player.”
The Thunder haven’t made the NBA Finals since 2012. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden lost to LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the 2012 Finals in five games.
“Every day we come to work the same way,” Gilgeous-Alexander said in January. “I think we all stay in the moment, and I think that’s why we’ve been able to get better. We just stay in the moment, attack the day, attack the program in front of us.”
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