The Oklahoma City Thunder went on a rather wild ride during these NBA Playoffs, but emerged victorious in the end after holding off the Indiana Pacers' comeback attempt to win the NBA Title and hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy for the first time in the young organization's history.
The Thunder finished the regular season with the best record in the NBA at 68-14, which earned them home-court advantage throughout the NBA Playoffs. While some looked at their finals matchup against the Pacers and thought the Thunder would make quick work of the scrappy team from Indiana, it proved to be a valuable insight Sunday evening.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) against the Indiana Pacers during the 2025 NBA Finals.
Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander joins elite company after Thunder's NBA title
This run couldn't have been possible without the play of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He averaged a career and league-high 32.7 points per game, five rebounds and 6.4 assists on his way to winning the Most Valuable Player award after finishing as the runner-up last season.
Once in the NBA Finals, he proved night in and night out why he took home that hardware in the regular season. He averaged 30.28 points per game and produced on the defensive end as well, averaging 1.9 steals per game. After winning the scoring title and championship in the same season, Gilgeous-Alexander joined elite company, as only four other players have accomplished the feat.
Those names include Shaquille O'Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, George Mikan, and Michael Jordan, who accomplished the feat six times.
At just 26 years old, it's not out of the question that Gilgeous-Alexander could do it again. While the Western Conference won't get any easier next season, this Thunder team, with its depth and youth, can do it all again next season.
The Thunder will now have the challenging task of defending their title next season. If they're able to do that and repeat it, this could prove to be one of the best teams up and down the roster this league has ever seen.