Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the OKC Thunder are looking to prove the doubters wrong by running the postseason gamut and taking home the Larry O'Brien Trophy this June.
Though the franchise may have come close to achieving ultimate glory over the years, as they've been to four Conference championships and an NBA Finals dating back to 2011, not since 1979 has this franchise (then known as the Seattle SuperSonics) accomplished such a feat.
Winning an NBA title would be a tremendous accomplishment for this starved Thunder franchise as a whole and Gilgeous-Alexander personally, with FS1 analyst Ric Bucher recently making the case that a Finals win would "instantly make him the most important person" in team history, having him succeed "a lot of great players" like Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.
However, during his assessment, the seasoned sports personality would go even further with his prediction of the impact that an Oklahoma City title run would have, as he expanded the hypothetical ripple effects all the way out to Boston by surprisingly claiming that such a scenario could prove to be a potential detriment to Celtics star, Jayson Tatum.
Ric Bucher says Thunder championship could hurt Jayson Tatum's status
Despite being the most accomplished player on the defending champion Boston Celtics, there's still much debate over where Tatum ranks among the league's elites.
Even with his six All-Star selections, four All-NBA nods, NBA Championship, and Olympic Gold Medal, the 27-year-old is often found receiving criticism for his perceived "soft" style of play and lack of difference-making abilities, and is frequently found on the outside looking in on a top-five rank among his peers.
Many have even argued Tatum to be one of, if not the most underrated player in the league today.
Even following last year's title, the critiques didn't seem to go away but, rather, ramped up, what with the fact that his co-star, Jaylen Brown was crowned Finals MVP.
To Bucher, in order to silence this kind of defamatory rhetoric a repeat may be necessary.
"This is his opportunity to put that final stamp on 'I am the best player on a championship team.' Let's not forget we still have the debate, Jaylen Brown being Finals MVP last year. There's one more step Jayson needs to take. If Shai ends up getting the title this year, that means that Jayson did not and he still has some work to do," Bucher said.
In Bucher's eyes, there are currently only two guys in the entire league who are the "undisputed" leader and best player on a recent championship-winning ball club. Said players are Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Should the Thunder win the 2025 NBA Finals, he makes the case that no one will get more credit than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for his contributions in bringing them there.
To Bucher, not only would this mean that the OKC centerpiece would join the aforementioned superstars in this elite category, but simultaneously, it would hold off Jayson Tatum's admission.