With the victory obtained in the night in race 7 over the Indiana Pacers, the Oklahoma City Thunder graduated for the first time (officially the second, given that with the transfer from Seattle the company also inherited the 1979 title won by the Sonics). Since their birth in 2008 the Thunders, to the west, were probably second only to the Golden State Warriors in terms of expressed quality and presence on the upper floors of the League (only four out of 17 seasons without playoffs), a deductible that also knew how to “learn” from errors and above all had the courage to forcefully press the Reset button when few would have done it, to start a new cycle made more than long -term investments and bet Draft rather than great blows from the free agency, and which today brought home Larry O’Brien.
In fact, one could define a “Rebuild” in record time that the General Manager Sam Presti started that July 10, 2019, the date of the most important exchange in the short history of the franchise, when Paul George at the Los Angeles Clippers sent in exchange for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, today the best player of the whole League, and a series of future choices that have been added to those who arrived from another transfer from another transfer from another transfer. Very heavy like that of Okc Russell Westbrook’s undisputed idol. Normally, when a team closes a cycle with so much decision you need several years because you return to be competitive: since that 2019, however, the Thunders have missed the appointment with the post Season just twice, converting their choices of those two years in two crystalline talents such as Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams. In 2023 the “purgatory” of the play-in, last year the return to the playoffs and today the title after a season spent permanently at the top. Six years in all without ever making the court to great names but always working with confidence on the material obtained thanks to those two sales.
An authentic masterpiece of the management, staff and players who seemed on the mission since the first day and concentrated only on this title.
By Massimo Furlani
