Following their blowout win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday evening, the OKC Thunder have now extended their franchise-best start to a season to 12-1, the top mark in the entire association.
On top of this, they find themselves ranked first in the league in defensive rating (103.0), net rating (15.6), possessions (1,344), and overall point differential (15.5).
The scariest thing about all of this elite-level production, however, -- at least, according to Charles Barkley --is the fact that they've managed to do all this damage without the likes of Jalen Williams in the fold.
Charles Barkley praises Thunder for domination without Jalen Williams
During ESPN's halftime show, Barkley and the rest of his Inside the NBA crew couldn't help but heap praise on this Thunder team for their efforts and sensational domination of the game during these early stages of the 2025-26 campaign.
When specifically diving into their matchup of the night, the Hall of Famer was quite vocal about how much better Oklahoma City is than this fifth-seeded Lakers club, saying, "they can't beat this team," even with the fact that "they don't even have Jalen Williams -- that's what's scary."
Last season, J-Dub unquestionably established himself as the number two option on this Thunder squad behind MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, as he went on to post career-best averages of 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.6 steals per game while earning All-Star, All-NBA, and All-Defensive honors along the way.
Following their title run, Williams opted to undergo surgery on his right wrist in early July and has been rehabbing ever since, which has forced him to miss these first 13 games of the year.
Fortunately, it appears his return to action may be just on the horizon, as a recent update revealed that the forward could be cleared for action within a couple of weeks.
The concept of the far and away best team in the NBA as currently constructed adding a top-15 player should be absolutely frightening for all other title hopefuls strewn across the league.
Until then, they'll continue to dip into their enviably deep rotation to make up for his absence.
Fortunately, as Barkley noted, OKC has "the best depth" in the game today, a luxury that allows coach Mark Daigneault to shell out 19 or more minutes a night to 10 separate players and that finds them boasting the best overall bench unit through roughly the first month of play.
Clearly, the Thunder are so far ahead of the curve, and the NBA legend has only highlighted yet another example of how.