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’s writers will weigh in on key storylines or trending topics around the league.
It’s early and an offseason of reshaped rosters awaits, but as it stands now, do you see the Thunder repeating as champions?
> Trending Topics: Is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the best Thunder player ever?
Steve Aschburner
Everything I saw from being around this Oklahoma City team in the Finals suggests to me that the Thunder deserve to be the favorites next season. And, yes, they are highly likely to end the NBA’s current seven-champs-in-seven-years run. The youngest bunch 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 an earnestness to this team, a palpable focus on the group over the individual that lends itself to scaling the mountain again. Jalen Williams’ growing game and importance will create a new dynamic in his partnership with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and there are five or six other guys that can take big steps next season in their development. The West again will be loaded, but none of those contenders has anything on OKC.
Brian Martin
No. If the choice is OKC or the field, I’m going with the field. That’s not a slight to the Thunder, but rather an acknowledgement of how difficult it is to win one championship, let alone go back-to-back.
So much has to go right throughout 100-plus games for a team to hoist 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 did not lose a key player to injury during the postseason.
I do see another title run in the future for the Thunder. With their core’s youth and a trove of future draft assets, this team could have a San Antonio Spurs-like run of extended title contention. But while those Spurs won five titles, they never went back-to-back.
Shaun Powell
I submit that next season’s journey will be easier than this one. How so, given the Thunder won 68 games and a championship? OKC may get stronger — simple improvement from within among young players, especially Chet Holmgren — while the competition might 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 major injuries to Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton, respectively. That virtually eliminates two big threats. Repeating is tough, but OKC has a chance.
John Schuhmann
The answer isn’t “no.” The Thunder are the obvious favorite as things stand, but it’s always difficult to take one team over the field.
This was just as legit a question with the Celtics (who were more dominant in the playoffs than the Thunder) last season, and they couldn’t repeat. It’s not that we just didn’t see epic collapses in the first two games of the conference semis, and then Jayson Tatum’s injury. It was also (at this time last year) difficult to foretell the improvement of teams like Cleveland and New York, as well as the magical run that the Pacers just went on.
With continued improvement from 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.
