LeBron James keeps praising the OKC Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder are building a special core that is not news to fans in and around Bricktown, but the rest of the NBA world is quickly taking notice. The league’s biggest star, LeBron James, is now on his second straight All-Star weekend appearance, where he speaks glowingly on what Sam Presti is building in OKC.

During the last All-Star break, LeBron James called Oklahoma City Thunder General Manager Sam Presti the “MVP.” In Salt Lake City, Utah, over the weekend, LeBron James doubled down on his praise of Oklahoma City.

LeBron James heaps praise on Thunder Sophomore Josh Giddey and the organization at large and reminds the world OKC still has Chet Holmgren waiting in the wings.

Despite their preseason expectations, the Oklahoma City Thunder sit with a 28-29 record. If the season ended today, the Thunder would be in the NBA Postseason as the tenth seed in the Western Conference. This has been a perfect season for the youngest roster in the NBA, and with a top-five easiest schedule remaining, they have a good shot at holding onto that playoff bid through the final 25 games.

At NBA All-Star weekend, LeBron James was asked by an Australian reporter what he thinks about Josh Giddey; this led James on a diatribe about how improved this young roster is.

“Josh Giddey is really, really good, man. Obviously, a tall point guard. He is a triple-double-type of playmaker every single night because of his ability to rebound at his size, his distinctive passing, and he has the ability to score in the paint. I think he is going to continue to get better and better. They have a really good young core over in OKC. They do not even have Chet [Holmgren] there just yet. Josh [Giddey] is a really good player, along with the other rookie that they have this year. Obviously, we know first-time All [Star] Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] is really good, and the rest of that crew over there. Pretty good player, for sure. You guys should be proud.”

While some would speculate maybe this is LeBron James hinting at jumping ship from L.A. to Oklahoma City when the Thunder finds a way to use one of their four 2024 NBA Draft picks on Bronny James next June, I think this is just an appreciation for good basketball team building.

When the OKC Thunder get really good, and LeBron James takes credit for realizing their progress early on, we will not be able to use the famous LeCap memes. However, he truly does have a long rap sheet of praising this young Thunder core now.