Thunder coach Mark Daigneault to miss at least three games for birth of child

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault has a pretty solid reason for missing at least the next three games of the 2021-22 NBA season. 

As explained by ESPN and Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman, Daigneault is not traveling for the road trip that officially begins with Friday's game at the Milwaukee Bucks because his wife, Ashley, is due to give birth to the couple's first child imminently. 

Assistant coach Dave Bliss will serve as acting head coach in Daigneault's absence. 

"We looked at a couple options of being with the team in terms of travel, and it’s not overly practical and it’s just not something that I want to risk," Daigneault explained when speaking with reporters. 

The Thunder have a quick turnaround and play at the Boston Celtics on Saturday. OKC then faces the Atlanta Hawks on Monday evening before returning home to host the Utah Jazz next Wednesday. Daigneault's status for the Utah matchup is understandably up in the air. 

"It’s brought a very tangible feeling to the fact that this is a very family-first organization, and I’ve felt that first hand in this process," Daigneault added about being able to step away from work for this joyous occasion.

The Thunder are 6-8 ahead of Friday's game at the 7-8 Bucks.