Mark Daigneault comments on the Minneapolis shootings

OKLAHOMA CITY – Before the meeting with the New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault is hit with a tough question about the tragic Minneapolis shooting ahead of a trip to confront the Minnesota Timberwolves. After two consecutive defeats at home, Daigneault and the Thunder want to come back before a short two-game road trip that begins against the Timberwolves on Thursday.

A reporter asked Daigneault if anything was planned in-house with his team regarding protocol and space for the Thunder’s players consider a fatal shooting.

“Well, organizationally, manage the team, as we always do, internally. We wouldn’t go into town if there was a security risk with the league. The league would have notified us if that was the case, obviously, since then they’ve been playing games,” Daigneault said.

“I try not to comment too much, but obviously it’s a very sad, upsetting situation. It’s a great community that we’ve been going to for years. So our hearts go out to that community because they’re obviously going through that right now.”

Mark Daigneault on Minneapolis shooting ahead of Thunder trip to Minn.: “I try not to comment too much, but it’s obviously a very sad, upsetting situation out there.

It’s a great community we’ve been going to for years. So our hearts go out to that community,… pic.twitter.com/IKSVpZ7aedp

— Joshua Pavon (@joe_svai) January 27, 2026

Many protests have been held in and around the Minneapolis area, including near Target Center, where the Timberwolves have held games since the tragic killings. As Daigneault alluded to, the Thunder will keep their plans under wraps as the team heads to Minnesota after hosting the Pelicans at the Paicom Center on Tuesday.

Mark Daigneault shares the hard truth about the Thunder’s loss

Before Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said it wasn’t his nightThunder head coach Mark Daigneault pointed out his team’s shortcomings during his postgame media availability. After two straight losses at home, Daigneault hopes the Thunder will learn from it before closing the home stand at the Paicom Center.

“Obviously they made some shots and some plays. We didn’t. When you get to that point of the game, it’s all about time management, clock management. I thought we did it decently and gave ourselves a chance,” Daigneault said. “But when you get into a game that close, it’s going to come down to mistakes and misses. And the trick is: Can you play a ground game for 48 where you have more control of it up until that point?”

“But we found ourselves in that situation the last couple of nights. We did a decent job of trying to give ourselves a chance to win. We didn’t come up with it, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from it.”

The Thunder have lost three of their last five games.