Whenever the Thunder are home with two days off between games, the Quail Creek Golf & Country Club has a trespasser. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has access to all the amenities at Oklahoma City’s 55,000-square-foot practice facility, from a smoothie bar to a 27-seat film room. It’s what he can’t get there that takes him to the outskirts of the city: a tennis court. A Thunder staffer—a club member—slips Gilgeous-Alexander in, usually a few minutes before close, ushering the 6'6" point guard down a short hallway and through a gift shop that opens into a room with three royal-blue hardcourt surfaces. Inside, Gilgeous-Alexander grabs a racket and starts striking. He rips forehands. He lunges for backhands. The games are intense. “Fiery,” says Mark Castillanes, a longtime friend and frequent tennis foe.
Physically, there is little that seems to connect the movements of tennis and basketball.
Greg Nelson/Sports Illustrated
