Tag: health and safety protocols

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander exits health and safety protocols; no longer listed on injury report

SGA is back.

It’s been quite the journey for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but after missing five consecutive games, he’s set to make his return on Sunday, March 5 against the Utah Jazz.

Coincidentally, Gilgeous-Alexander’s last game was against the Jazz in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s first game coming out of the All-Star break on Feb. 23. The All-Star guard scored 39 points in an overtime loss.

Following that game, Gilgeous-Alexander missed the Thunder’s next five games with a mixture of injuries and health problems that range from ankle soreness to a hip flexor strain that was later reclassified as an abdominal pain. He eventually landed in league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocol.

The Thunder went 1-4 during Gilgeous-Alexander’s absence. Their latest game resulted in a win against the Jazz.

With Gilgeous-Alexander no longer in health and safety protocol, the 24-year-old can officially make his return. He was no longer listed on the injury report.

In 54 games, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 31 points on 50.7% shooting, 5.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds. Out of 63 Thunder games so far, Gilgeous-Alexander has played in 85.7% of them.

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OKC Thunder news: Kenrich Williams enters health and safety protocols

The Thunder have added Kenrich Williams to health and safety protocols ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Wizards.

The Oklahoma City Thunder announced that Kenrich Williams has entered health and safety protocols and will be out for Tuesday’s game against the Washington Wizards. Williams joins Isaiah Roby as the Thunder’s only two health and safety protocol cases on the roster.

Williams has been one of the Thunder’s better players this season as he has averaged seven points, four rebounds and 1.9 assists while shooting 38.2 percent from three on two attempts a game. The 27-year-old provides a steady hand in an otherwise youthful roster and has garnered trade interest throughout the league due to this. Williams is in his second season with the Thunder.

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OKC Thunder news: Thunder sign Olivier Sarr to second 10-day hardship deal

The Thunder have brought back Olivier Sarr for a second 10-day deal.

The Oklahoma City Thunder announced that they have signed Olivier Sarr to a second 10-day deal on Sunday. Sarr initially signed his first 10-day deal as a hardship exception as the team dealt with a health and safety protocols outbreak.

The 22-year-old big appeared in just two games with the Thunder and has averaged 7.1 points and 4.8 rebounds in 14 games with the Oklahoma City Blue. Sarr went undrafted in the 2021 NBA Draft and was signed by the Thunder this past October.

Sarr’s size at seven foot adds some intrigue to his game but overall he is very much a work in progress. The Thunder do not have a true center on the roster outside of Derrick Favors, so it will be interesting to see how much run Sarr gets during the next 10 days.

The Thunder play the Denver Nuggets on Sunday at home.

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OKC Thunder news: Mark Daigneault clears health and safety protocols

The Thunder welcome back head coach Mark Daigneault after a 10-day absence due to health and safety protocols.

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault has cleared health and safety protocols and will return to the sidelines for Friday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, per the team.

Daigneault was placed under protocols on Dec. 28 and spent 10 days in it. Assistant coach Mike Wilks served as the active head coach for the five games during that stretch and went 1-4.

This marked the second time this season that Daigneault had to step away from the team. The first time was him missing a three-game slate due to his wife giving birth to their first-born child in November. Assistant coach Dave Bliss served as the interim coach that weekend. Bliss was not able to be the interim coach again this time around due to also being put under health and safety protocols.

It appears that the worst days of the Thunder’s outbreaks are behind them as the only player on the roster still under health and safety protocols is Isaiah Roby.

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OKC Thunder news: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander cleared from health and safety protocols

The Thunder welcome back Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from his two-day stint in health and safety protocols.

During Monday’s post-practice media availability, Oklahoma City Thunder interim head coach Mike Wilks announced that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has cleared health and safety protocols and was a participant in practice.

Gilgeous-Alexander was placed under health and safety protocols on Saturday and quickly made his return two days later. The 23-year-old only missed one game in that timespan in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks that saw his teammate Josh Giddey make history by becoming the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double.

Wilks also said that he had no update on Darius Bazley, Tre Mann, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl as all three have been in health and safety protocols for over a week now.

Wilks also said that Lu Dort, who missed the Mavericks game on Sunday due to a sore knee, was limited in practice today.

With Wilks speaking to the media on Monday, it’s safe to assume that Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault is still under health and safety protocols after being placed on it last Tuesday.

“We definitely miss Coach Mark,” said Ty Jerome after practice.

The Thunder next play the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday.

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OKC Thunder news: Aleksej Pokusevski, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Aaron Wiggins enter health and safety protocols

The Thunder have finally been hit hard by COVID-19 as five players enter health and safety protocols in the same 24 hour span

A day after the Oklahoma City Thunder had its first two cases of a player missing time due to entering health and safety protocols in Darius Bazley and Tre Mann, the team announced that three additional players have entered protocols in Aleksej Pokusevski, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Aaron Wiggins.

With five players under protocols, the Thunder are allowed to sign four replacement players on hardship deals on temporary 10-day contracts. The Thunder’s G League affiliate — the Oklahoma City Blue — run the same offenses and use the same jargon as its superior along with playing in the same arena for home games. So a transition from the Blue to the Thunder would be rather seamless if the franchise opts to call up players from the Blue as their replacements.

The trio of Pokusevski, Robinson-Earl and Wiggins played in Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans with Mann also being in the building.

Pokusevski, who turned 20 years old on Sunday, played eight minutes. Robinson-Earl played 26 minutes. Wiggins played 32 minutes. Mann participated in warmups before being ruled out during the game.

With five players heading into protocols, it is fair to say that the Thunder are having a COVID-19 outbreak and join the long list of NBA teams with similar struggles in recent weeks. It is now a wait-and-see game for the Thunder to see if they have any additional cases before Tuesday’s game against the Sacramento Kings.

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Two Brooklyn Nets games postponed with increase in cases

The Brooklyn Nets next two games are being postponed due to COVID-19 cases in the organization, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The Brooklyn Nets games against the Denver Nuggets Sunday and Washington Wizards Tuesday have been postponed because of a surge of COVID-19 cases around the league, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Nets have 10 players in health and safety protocols at the moment, prompting the postponement.

Currently, the Nets have Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving, LaMarcus Aldridge, Paul Millsap, Bruce Brown, Jevon Carter, James Johnson, DeAndre’ Bembry and Day’Ron Sharpe in protocols. The minimum necessary number of players needed for a game is eight, according to Wojnarowski.

The league is expected to postpone a number of games Sunday as cases surge, according to Wojnarowski. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks game was also postponed Sunday, as the Cavaliers had five players test positive Sunday morning, according to Wojnarowski. The Philadelphia 76ers and New Orleans Pelicans matchup Sunday is as well.

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