{"id":709158,"date":"2026-04-12T18:27:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T18:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/709158\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T18:27:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T18:27:43","slug":"okc-thunder-rule-out-shai-gilgeous-alexander-for-suns-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/709158\/","title":{"rendered":"OKC Thunder Rule Out Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for Suns Game"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"submission-link-wrapper\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.nationaltoday.com\/news?location=Denver%2C+CO&amp;city=Denver&amp;type=Update+Existing+Story&amp;headline=OKC+Thunder+Rule+Out+Shai+Gilgeous-Alexander+for+Suns+Game&amp;page=https%3A%2F%2Fnationaltoday.com%2Fus%2Fco%2Fdenver%2Fnews%2F2026%2F04%2F12%2Fthunder-announce-shai-gilgeous-alexander-out-for-suns-game%2F\" class=\"submission-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/69dbbb17015f7.jpg\" alt=\"A fractured, multi-perspective painting in bold, clashing colors depicting the movements and energy of a basketball player, conceptually representing the absence of the Thunder's star player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from the upcoming game against the Suns.\" width=\"1344\" height=\"768\" class=\"news-image\"\/>A cubist interpretation of the Thunder&#8217;s star player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander captures the dynamic energy and tension of his absence from the upcoming matchup against the Suns.Denver Today<\/p>\n<p>The Oklahoma City Thunder have announced that star player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will not play in Sunday&#8217;s home game against the Phoenix Suns. Gilgeous-Alexander sat out the team&#8217;s previous game against the Denver Nuggets, and the Thunder are continuing to hold him out for injury management reasons.<\/p>\n<p>        Why it matters<\/p>\n<p>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the Thunder&#8217;s best player and an NBA All-Star, so his absence is a significant blow to the team&#8217;s chances against the playoff-contending Suns. The Thunder are likely being cautious with Gilgeous-Alexander&#8217;s health as they continue rebuilding for the future.<\/p>\n<p>                The details<\/p>\n<p>The Thunder did not provide any further details on the specific nature of Gilgeous-Alexander&#8217;s injury or condition that is requiring this game-to-game management. He has been a durable player throughout his career, so this appears to be more of a preventative measure than a serious injury.<\/p>\n<p>        Gilgeous-Alexander missed the Thunder&#8217;s previous game against the Denver Nuggets on April 9th.The Thunder will host the Phoenix Suns on April 12th.<\/p>\n<p>          The players<\/p>\n<p>          Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/p>\n<p>The Thunder&#8217;s star player and an NBA All-Star who is being held out for injury management reasons.<\/p>\n<p>Oklahoma City Thunder<\/p>\n<p>The NBA team that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander plays for, who are currently in a rebuilding phase.<\/p>\n<p>Phoenix Suns<\/p>\n<p>The opponent the Thunder will be facing on April 12th, a playoff contender in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.nationaltoday.com\/news?location=Denver%2C+CO&amp;city=Denver&amp;type=Upload+Story+Photos&amp;headline=OKC+Thunder+Rule+Out+Shai+Gilgeous-Alexander+for+Suns+Game&amp;page=https%3A%2F%2Fnationaltoday.com%2Fus%2Fco%2Fdenver%2Fnews%2F2026%2F04%2F12%2Fthunder-announce-shai-gilgeous-alexander-out-for-suns-game%2F\" class=\"submission-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Got photos? Submit your photos here. \u203a<\/a><br \/>\n                What they\u2019re saying<\/p>\n<p class=\"news-quote-quote\">\u201cShai Gilgeous-Alexander (injury management) listed out for Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"news-quote-cite\">\u2014 Underdog NBA<\/p>\n<p>                What\u2019s next<\/p>\n<p>The Thunder will provide an update on Gilgeous-Alexander&#8217;s status closer to their next game after the Suns matchup.<\/p>\n<p>          The takeaway<\/p>\n<p>The Thunder are being cautious with their star player&#8217;s health as they continue rebuilding, even if it means missing key games against playoff contenders like the Suns. Fans will be eager to see Gilgeous-Alexander return to action soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a A cubist interpretation of the Thunder&#8217;s star player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":709159,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3783],"tags":[7,6,310,475,179,3966,3965,312],"class_list":{"0":"post-709158","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oklahoma-city-thunder","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-oklahoma","11":"tag-oklahoma-city","12":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","13":"tag-oklahomacity","14":"tag-oklahomacitythunder","15":"tag-thunder"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116393156491262621","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=709158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/709159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=709158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=709158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=709158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}