The Oklahoma City Thunder are under fire from the NBA for last week’s contest against the San Antonio Spurs.
Dan Woike of The Athletic reported that the NBA is openly investigating the Thunder for sitting injured players in a nationally televised game against the Spurs on Feb. 4.
“According to a league source, the NBA is investigating the Oklahoma City Thunder for player absences due to injury during their nationally televised game last week against the San Antonio Spurs,” Woike wrote.
Ten of the 15 active players on the Thunder roster were in street clothes for the game. The NBA has been cracking down to ensure teams have their star players available for nationally televised games and in-season tournament matchups that draw larger audiences.
The league defines a “star player” as someone named to an All-Star or All-NBA team in the past three seasons.
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The 10 Thunder players made unavailable were: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (abdominal strain), Chet Holmgren (low back spasms), Alex Caruso (right adductor strain), Jalen Williams (right hamstring strain), Luguentz Dort (right patellofemoral joint inflammation), Isaiah Hartenstein (right eye corneal abrasion), Ajay Mitchell (abdominal strain), Nikola Topić (surgical recovery), Ousmane Dieng (not with team), and Thomas Sorber (right ACL, surgical recovery).
With only eight players dressed, the Thunder fell 116-108 to the Spurs.
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The Thunder have the best record in the league at 40-13; however, they are 5-5 in their last 10 games.
It’s been a tough stretch for the defending champions as they have been without Gilgeous-Alexander for the past week with an abdominal strain. The 2025 MVP will be re-evaluated after the All-Star break.
As for the other Thunder top star, Holmgren only missed last Tuesday’s action with a back issue. He is off the injury report vs the Lakers.
The Thunder will be without Gilgeous-Alexander, Mitchell, Nikola Topic and Thomas Sorber against the Lakers.
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