Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Injury Update: When Will SGA Be Back and Return to Thunder?

The Oklahoma City Thunder once again look like the class of the NBA this season as they own a league-best 42-13 record. It’s not all smooth-sailing for OKC, though, as the team will be without its top star for a period of time. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went down with a strained abdominal muscle earlier this month. Below, we will look at when SGA will be back and return to the Thunder lineup.

When will SGA be back and return to Thunder?

SGA has not appeared in a game for the Thunder since Feb. 3, when he scored 20 points in an OKC win over the Magic. The Toronto native suffered a strained abdominal muscle in the Orlando game.

He will be re-evaluated after the All-Star break, but all signs point to the reigning NBA Finals MVP coming back towards the end of the month of February.

Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daignault was asked if he thought the injury might be a blessing-in-disguise for his superstar player given that SGA has played in nearly every one of OKC’s games so far this season.

“He has conditioned himself to be able to take that load,” Daigneault said. “That’s what the great players do. They build up a certain base - physically, mentally and emontionally to be able to handle a very large role in terms of minutes and usage. He carries that as well as anybody and does not break a sweat doing it …

“He’d rather play. We’d rather him play.”

There is a very real possibility that Gilgeous-Alexander will return in the Thunder’s first game after the All-Star break, which is Friday, Feb. 20 at home against the Brooklyn Nets.

Here is a look at the OKC schedule around the time that SGA is likely to return.

• Friday, Feb. 20: Brooklyn Nets at OKC Thunder
• Sunday, Feb. 22: Cleveland Cavaliers at OKC Thunder
• Tuesday, Feb. 24: OKC Thunder at Toronto Raptors
• Wednesday, Feb. 25: OKC Thunder at Detroit Pistons
• Friday, Feb. 27: Denver Nuggets at OKC Thunder

Will SGA play in the NBA All-Star game?

No, SGA will not play in the NBA All-Star Game this Sunday in LA. Gilgeous-Alexander was set to be a starter for the World team, but he had to withdraw from the game due to the abdominal injury.

He was replaced by Houston’s Alperen Sengun, who is of Turkish descent, on the World roster.

How long will Gilgeous-Alexander be out for?

The Thunder have only said that SGA will be re-evaluated after the All-Star break.

This appears to be a minor injury. If the Thunder superstar had suffered this in the playoffs, there’s a great chance he would be right back in the lineup the next game.

SGA’s injury is believed to be a minor abdominal muscle strain, which keeps most NBA players out 1-3 weeks. He has already been out 11 days.

Exactly three weeks from the day of the injury would be Tuesday, February 24. The Thunder will be in SGA’s hometown of Toronto to play the Raptors on that day.

SGA MVP odds

Gilgeous-Alexander remains the front-runner for NBA MVP despite the injury. SGA has -220 NBA MVP odds.

Nikola Jokic is +310 to win MVP while Cade Cunningham is +3000.

A player must play in at least 65 out of 82 regular season games to be considered for the NBA MVP award.

SGA played in 49-of-56 Thunder games so far this season, so he’s missed seven games thus far. This will certainly play into how quickly SGA returns.

Thunder betting odds

Not only is SGA the favorite to win NBA MVP, but the Thunder are still the favorite to win the NBA title. NBA Finals odds show OKC with a +120 price. The Nuggets have the second-best odds at the best NBA betting sites at +600.

OKC is also -600 to finish the regular season with the most wins in the NBA.