The Thunder have had a historic start to the season, letting the league know that they have one of the best, if not the best defense in NBA history.
No, this is not propaganda.
A bold claim such as this is actually backed up by universally unbiased statistics, and there are three, in particular, that prove this 2024-25 Oklahoma City squad is on its way toward becoming the greatest defense of all time.
Stats show Thunder are heading toward GOAT defense status
Steals to Turnover Rate
The first of many absurd stats that don't seem true is the total steals compared to the total turnovers committed by the Thunder this season.
Through the first 24 games of the season, Oklahoma City is the only team in history to have more steals (292) than turnovers (282) as a squad.
This is something that seemed impossible in the modern age of basketball, as teams are pushing the ball more frequently than ever and turnovers seem like they are in high fashion.
The Thunder are taking superb care of the ball, while also taking it away on the other end.
The club has three players in the top 10 for total steals this year, with Jalen Williams ranking second, Cason Wallace tied for fourth, and Alex Caruso coming in at eighth.
Team Stocks
Stocks are the sum of steals and blocks added together, therefore you get the term "stocks" when you combine the two words.
So far this season, the Thunder have been dominating in this area of play, averaging 18.54 stocks. To put this into perspective, this is more than the 1982-83 New Jersey Nets who averaged the most in history (18.33) for an entire season.
This is one of those stats that many people may not keep up with, but the stock market in OKC has never been higher!
Another crazy part of this statistic is the fact that the team is averaging 12.2 steals per game, which means 2/3's of the team's stocks come from the perimeter, which is just crazy.
Relative Defensive Efficiency
Relative defensive efficiency is the difference between a team's defensive rating and the league-average defensive rating in a season.
That is a lot, but it is a stat that shows off how dominant this prison cell of a defense is, having a 9.0 relative defensive efficiency.
The only teams above them are the 1963-64 &1964-65, Bill Russell-led Boston Celtics.