I just googled the “Thunder” to see if the nats are giving them love. They’re not. That’s OKC’s problem: small market. They have trouble keeping players because of same, too. Who did Miami play when they won their second NBA Finals?…Oklahoma City. In the second year of the Heatles we were underdogs! OKC had home court and won the first game, too. Why were the Big Three underdogs? Well, because the “Thunder” had 1) Kevin Durant 2) Russell Westbrook 3) James Harden. That’s why, and that’s a good reason why! They lost all of those stars to bigger stages but when you have Clay Bennett as your owner and Sam Presti as your GM you simply retool. Ten years after that first Finals appearance the "Thunder" missed the playoffs and won 40 games. But they had Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who only averaged 31 ppg. Not a bad "building block" lol. In addition, however, given this org's comprehensive understanding of basketball, there was this, from last year:
This season those young thundering guns have grown into cannons. Oh, and they added Chet Holmgren. Who is only 7' 1", only the second-leading rookie, and only averaging 18 points, 7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks a game. And now the "Thunder" are winning at a 70.3% clip.
Oklahoma City is in the middle of nowhere but even from nowhere you can hear the thunder roar.
