The Oklahoma City Thunder are forcing themselves into the spotlight. The reason the casual fanbase doesn’t know about them is because OKC hasn’t been properly marketed. It’s as simple as that.
This is the team that was somehow not selected among the 10 headliners to play on Christmas Day.
Although, the Thunder had their worst offensive performance of the season in the NBA Cup Championship — they were a finalist in the NBA Cup.
However; the Thunder are not receiving the proper exposure and it still seems like this OKC team is under the radar.
This needs to change. The league has flexed the Thunder into two national TV slots in January: an ESPN game on Jan. 8 in Cleveland and a TNT game on Jan. 16 against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Oklahoma City. The NBA should put the majority of their marquee games on national TV. Here are the main reasons why the Thunder are forcing themselves into the spotlight:
How OKC Forced Themselves Into Primetime
The Thunder Are a Really Good and Fun Team
The Thunder are 21-5 (at the time of this writing), which is good for number one in the West. They currently have a NET rating of +11.9, which is the best net rating in the league and is over two full points better than the Boston Celtics’ +9.4, whom the majority of the media believe is the best team in the NBA.
However; that doesn’t even give OKC its proper due.
We have to factor in the fact that OKC plays in the Western Conference, which is clearly better than the Eastern Conference. Compared to the team with the best record in the NBA, the Cavaliers, have a +8.1.
Even with Chet Holmgren out for the majority of its games, OKC is still piling up wins and is separating itself in the Western Conference.
To fully understand how good this OKC team is, 17 out of the Thunder’s 21 wins are by double-digits. Their most impressive victories include wins over Houston and Orlando (twice), Dallas, Denver, Golden State, Phoenix, Sacramento, and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Three of OKC’s five losses were one-possession games. Simply put, the Thunder are blowing teams out opponents (and losing so sparingly) that they’re playing like one of the best regular-season teams in NBA history.
https://stathead.com/tiny/eRuFT
This is only one reason why they should be featured on national TV more.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a Star
When the Thunder traded for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander nobody expected him to become this good. The ascension from SGA from his rookie year to now has been nothing short of remarkable.
The SGA-Paul George trade to jumpstart OKC’s rebuild will go down as one of the best trades in NBA history. Being traded to OKC has allowed him to transcend into one of the best players in the league.
SGA has evolved into one of the best and most consistent scorers in the league. The way he accelerates to throw off the defenders’ timing and how he uses angles and footwork to navigate through defenses is 1-of-1 in the league. His game has a throwback and the future feel at the same time.
For the third consecutive season, the 26-year-old is averaging an efficient 30+ points per game — highlighting the consistency and the testament of his hard work paying off.
Here’s an SGA quote, speaking on his mindset and lessons learned from basketball and how it applies to life:
The insight and maturity from their face of the franchise. Ripples down to the rest of the roster, which has established the culture we all see today from this iteration of the Thunder.
One key trait for a star is availability. As availability is the best ability. And he’s always there. In an NBA beleaguered by stars missing games, availability is not an issue with him. The majority of fans just want a star who shows. SGA certainly shows up.
The Thunder Play Defense Like the Early 2000s
A very common complaint about the current NBA is that teams don’t play defense. For one, that’s not true. For two, if you believe that, then watch OKC play.
The way I describe OKC’s defense is “organized chaos”
The Thunder really get after it on defense. They’ll defend 94 feet, be all up on the opposing team space, be they’re all on the same accord on the defensive end, which is why OKC is leading the NBA in — forced turnovers, points off turnovers, steals, points allowed, opponent field goal percentage, and opponents three-point percentage.
The Thunder understand the value and importance of defense and winning the turnover game. It has been a source of offense and a big part of their identity in their quest to win the championship.
The Thunder are the Definition of Homegrown — and About to Grow a Whole Lot More
Player empowerment has been a huge part of this era of the NBA as there’s a good part of the fanbase that’s not a fan of stars hopping from one team to another, which is understandable.
The Thunder is the GM Sam Presti and the Thunder have built this roster up organically and relied on internal development. They drafted Chet Holmgren (2nd in 2022), Jalen Williams (12th in 2022), and Cason Wallace (10th in 2023). They traded for a 20-year-old and a player coming off their rookie season in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and picked up an undrafted free agent in Lu Dort.
The Thunder took a chance on a 29-year-old Mark Daigneault in 2014, naming him the head coach of its G League team. Six years later, he was promoted from within and eventually took over for Billy Donovan, becoming the second-youngest head coach in the NBA. Daigneault is now considered one of the league’s top coaches, winning Coach of the Year in 2023-24.
The organization’s biggest signing in franchise history this summer, Isaiah Hartenstein, was a G League standout. After breaking out onto the scene with the New York Knicks, Hartenstein was rewarded with a three-year, $87 million contract in OKC, he’s been worth every bit of that contract thus far.
The talent, winning, assets, flexibility, chemistry, and camaraderie of this team showcase the results of a successful rebuild.
What’s most exciting, is this is the early stage of the Thunder’s rise. They’re still the fourth-youngest team in the NBA, the Holmgren/Hartenstein combo hasn’t even played in the same game together and OKC still has a ton of picks and flexibility to do whatever they want. There’s no better position to be in than the Thunder right now.
There is no one way to successfully build a roster but the Thunder offer a blueprint for which a lot of teams in the NBA can properly rebuild a roster.
The NBA Needs to Invest in OKC NOW
There will come a day when LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant aren’t playing in the NBA anymore. No one knows when that day will be, but we know this: The NBA still heavily relies on LeBron, Curry, and Durant. LeBron is in year 22 and is turning 40 at the end of this month. Curry is in year 16 and is 36 years old. Durant is in year 17 and is 36-years-old.
Unfortunately, the NBA has to figure out what the post-LeBron, post-Curry, and post-KD era look like. The Thunder should absolutely be at the top or near the top of the list — now. The Thunder rank eighth in national TV games (20) behind the Lakers (27), Golden State (26), Boston (36), New York (25), Dallas (24), Denver (22) and Philadelphia (21).
The NBA is not properly marketing the Thunder and it’s not like the Thunder came out of nowhere this year. The Thunder were the No. 1 seed in the West last season with the second-youngest roster in the league. We don’t see teams this young and good. They may be a small market team and they may not draw the biggest ratings but this Thunder team has all of the factors: young and fun team, great vibes, superstar player, and they are now winning games at a very high rate over the last year.
The Thunder are forcing the NBA to take notice and it would be beneficial to promote this team. The NBA may take a slight hit in the short term to reap the long-term benefits of having the Thunder in the national limelight.
The NBA has to do a better job of marketing this team as they are next up!
Main Image: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
