Jared McCain reacts to recent viral moment with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

It didn't take long for the first viral moment to happen for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Whether good or bad, the top-two title contender is a content-making machine. Anytime you're on social media, you can bet that all eyes are on them across the league.

As the Thunder go through their 2026-27 NBA training camp, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jared McCain had a funny moment make the rounds on social media. Working out together on Tuesday, their full-court race caught the attention of the NBA Twitter-sphere.

Gilgeous-Alexander absolutely dusted McCain. He left him behind pretty quickly with his long strides. The short clip had everybody surprised at the two-time MVP winner's Flash-esque speed. You don't really see that side of him in his methodical

playstyle. He likes to take his time and dissect opposing defenses.

Jalen Williams said last season that Shai was the fastest on the team and I lowkey thought he was crazy.

Here’s Shai doing sprints with Jared McCain after practice. pic.twitter.com/54Ngi6m3L0

— Addam M. Francisco (@SuaveCEO_) September 29, 2026

McCain had the chance to address his social media viral moment. He talked to the local media after Friday's NBA training camp. All smiles and cracking a laugh, he tried to justify how bad the short moment looked on his part. Although it was all in good-natured fun.

"It wasn't a race. But what's funny is, right before it, I almost caught a cramp. I don't know if anybody knows, but you almost like catch a cramp," McCain joked. "I'm like trying to run after he's trying to run as fast as he can. It looked like he was running super hard. But yeah, he's fast. Like I said, I wasn't running 100%, but I'm not going to say that I beat him in a race."

In all seriousness, it's good to see McCain spend some one-on-one time with Gilgeous-Alexander. The latter has done that through the NBA training camp this week. Other participants were Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace. With the Thunder going through notable roster changes, more responsibilities will fall on that group of players. At least, on offense.

After being blindsided at the 2026 NBA trade deadline, McCain is fully comfortable on the Thunder. They're banking on him to continue his development. As we saw in the 2026 NBA playoffs, he's shown he can get his own buckets and make timely outside jumpers. They're going to need that microwave-style of scoring off the bench this upcoming 2026-27 regular season and beyond.

Jared McCain on his viral moment racing SGA: “It wasn’t a race, but what's funny is right before it, I almost caught a cramp.” pic.twitter.com/njN6E8jyJT

— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 2, 2026

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Jared McCain reacts to recent viral moment with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander