Go behind the scenes with the Thunder, who are NBA champions for the first time in the OKC era after winning Game 7 against a resilient Indiana Pacers team.
Periodically, NBA.com editors will offer their thoughts on key storylines or hot topics around the league.
It’s early and an offseason of reshuffled rosters awaits, but as things stand, do you see the Thunder repeating as champions?
> Trending Topics: Is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the best Thunder player of all time?
Steve Aschburner
Everything I saw while being around this Oklahoma City team in the finals suggests to me that thThe Thunder deserve to be the favorite next season. And, yes, it’s highly likely they’ll end the current streak of seven NBA champions in seven years. The youngest group to win the title since the Portland Trail Blazers in 1977 has everyone under contract for 2025-26, which is a great way to start.
More than that, there is a serious has this team, a a palpable focus on the group rather than the individual who is ready to climb the mountain again. Jalen Williams’ growing play and importance will create new dynamics in his partnership with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and there are five or six other guys who can make big strides in their development next season. The West will be loaded again, but none of these contenders have anything on OKC.
Brian Martin
No. If the choice is OKC or the field, I choose the field. This is not a slight against the Thunder, but rather an acknowledgment of how difficult it is to win a championship, let alone return to it back-to-back.
So much must be accomplished over the course of 100-plus games for a team to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy. As dominant as the Thunder were during the regular season, they were pushed to seven games twice during their title run. And unlike a handful of playoff teams — including their Finals opponent in Game 7 — OKC didn’t lose a key player to injury during the postseason.
I see another title run in the future for the Thunder. With the youth of their core and a wealth of future draft assets, this team could experience a series of extended title struggles a la the San Antonio Spurs. But even though these Spurs have won five titles, they have never come back in a row.
Shaun Powell
I argue that next season’s journey will be easier than this one. What do you mean given the Thunder won 68 games and a championship? OKC could get stronger — simple improvement from within among younger players, especially Chet Holmgren — while the competition could be weaker.
The Nuggets, for example, took OKC to seven games, but Denver has issues with its core (namely Michael Porter Jr.). Then there’s the Eastern Conference. Boston and Indiana are dealing with serious injuries to Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton, respectively. This virtually eliminates two major threats. Repeating is difficult, but OKC has a chance.
John Schumann
The answer is not “no”. The Thunder are the clear favorite as things stand, but it’s still difficult to take a team from the field.
It was an equally legitimate question with the Celtics (who were more dominant in the playoffs than the Thunder) last season, and they couldn’t repeat. Not that we didn’t see epic collapses in the first two games of the conference semifinals and then Jayson Tatum’s injury. It was also (this time last year) difficult to predict the improvement of teams like Cleveland and New York, as well as the magical run the Pacers just had.
With the continued improvement of Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, the Thunder should be better next year, but winning a championship is hard, and repeating (especially in recent years) is even harder.
