The Oklahoma City Thunder are one win away from their first NBA Finals appearance in over a decade. The rebuild that Sam Presti enacted in Oklahoma City is five wins away from yielding the necessary results for his franchise.
Despite the dominant regular season that the Thunder enjoyed in the 2024-25 NBA season, there were a lot of naysayers who were not quite convinced of their dominant status. Oklahoma City were often not given the respect they were due.
With only four teams remaining in the NBA Playoffs, and that number due for a reduction in the near future, the Thunder are certainly the favorites to win the championship now. The problem in these discussions is that status should have comfortably belong to them all season.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) celebrate after a play.
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2), guard Luguentz Dort (5) and forward Chet Holmgren (7) celebrate after a play.
© Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Brian Windhorst criticizes approach to analyzing Thunder
Brian Windhorst has been someone who has advocated for the Thunder throughout their impressive 2024-25 NBA season. The ESPN analyst has advocated for their contender status previously.
Windhorst said in March, "I hear it every day. I hear it implicitly from other people I talk to in the league [and] I hear it implicitly from players out there. ... They just don't respect them."
With a potential championship looming for the Thunder, Windhorst reasserted that the coverage and opinion around this team has not been what it needs to be. The ESPN analyst stated as much on SportsCenter.
"I spent the whole season listening to people in the NBA, a lot of it off the record, disrespecting this team, not believing in this team.
I don’t know how you could watch these last couple of weeks and not understand this team is a serious problem going forward."
-Brian Windhorst
Perhaps the conversations around the Thunder are another example of how small market teams do not get the love they deserve in the NBA. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and company are only a handful of wins away from forcing the talking points surrounding them to change.