Aside from the Cleveland Cavaliers, there has been no team more dominant than the Oklahoma City Thunder. They’ve been steamrolling the competition en route to their 53-12 record. However, rival teams and NBA experts continue to disregard them as a serious contender for the title. NBA analyst Brian Windhorst is shocked by the lack of respect the Thunder receives.
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As it stands right now, OKC holds the second-best odds to win the championship. There seems to be a disconnect between those creating the odds for sportsbooks and many within NBA circles.
Windhorst has spoken to numerous people in the league about the Thunder. To his amazement, disrespect for the Thunder’s skill outweighs praise by a large margin. Windhorst came to OKC’s defense in a passionate rant on ESPN’s First Take.
“I hear it implicitly from other people I talk to in the league. I hear it implicitly from players out there who are like, ‘Yeah, yeah will be fine on the same side of the bracket as OKC,'” Windhorst said. “They just don’t respect them.”
Windhorst says the Thunder don’t strike fear in their opponents. Teams don’t even feel any concern being on the same side of the playoff bracket.
The conversation surrounding the Thunder would make sense for a team fighting for a play-in spot. But the Thunder leads the league with a net rating of 12.4, which puts them second all-time behind the 1995-96 Bulls.
By no means are the Thunder the perfect team; they certainly have flaws. Although Windhorst is one of their most prominent defenders, even he admits that. Regardless, that doesn’t take away from how well they have performed throughout the regular season.
Windhorst pointed out Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is having his best season, averaging 32.4 points on 52.5% shooting from the field. The potential MVP will wreak havoc on opposing teams in the postseason, whether they want to admit it or not.
Thunder have a chip on their shoulder this season
No one expected the Thunder to be as great as they were in the 2023-24 season, when they improved from the 2022-23 season by 17 wins to finish with a 57-25 record. OKC has indeed gotten better, though, and it’s evidenced by their dominance of the West.
Oklahoma City has a record of 32-11 against Conference opponents, which is, by far, the best mark in the West. There’s no denying their regular season success. The questions arise from the doubt they can carry that into the postseason.
The Thunder’s second-round loss to the Mavericks last spring left a sour taste in a lot of people’s mouths. The additions of Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso were attempts to fix those holes.
Despite the constant doubt surrounding OKC, they are a true contender. They don’t pay any attention to the outside noise, as they only have their mind on capturing an NBA championship.
