NBA: SGA steers OKC to a dub over Charlotte in preseason debut

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The reigning NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) is back.

After missing the first two NBA preseason games, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finally made his debut for the Oklahoma City Thunder and led them to a 122-116 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Oct. 10, 2025, at the Paycom Center.

Despite a long NBA layoff, SGA still delivered for OKC and shrugged off any rust with an efficient 16-point performance.

The most impressive thing about SGA’s NBA preseason debut was that he needed only 19 minutes of action to produce his offensive master class, alongside five assists, a rebound, a steal, and a block.

SGA shot 7-of-9 from the field, including a perfect 2-of-2 from the three-point line, while the other five buckets were all converted from the perimeter.

The Canadian superstar didn’t need a trip to the charity stripe to pile up his scoring tally, a rare sight for OKC fans who flocked to the Paycom Center just to see him play his first NBA preseason game.

When SGA was on the floor, Charlotte never led in the entire ballgame, with OKC building a wire-to-wire lead as large as 20 points.

Unfortunately, SGA had to sit out the majority of the second half as part of the preseason’s unwritten rule involving its franchise superstars.

Charlotte threatened to steal the game away during the battle of the reserves in the fourth canto, inching closer to just three points, but a late run spearheaded by Malevy Leons and Chris Youngblood proved to be enough for OKC to seal the deal.

Aside from SGA, the duo of Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins stepped up for OKC, chipping in 19 and 13 markers, respectively.

Also back in the lineup are the 1-2 defensive punch of Alex Caruso and Luguentz Dort, as well as frontcourt anchor Isaiah Hartenstein.