In this era of the NBA that celebrates and caters to offensive production, the OKC Thunder have found a way to dominate, thanks in large part to their defensive excellence.
Of course, because they go against the grain when it comes to modern-day play, the ball club doesn't seem to receive the attention from everyday fans that generally follows reigning champions.
To The Athletic's Sam Vecenie, it's simply because the way they operate on the hardwood is considered "unsexy."
Thunder have an 'unsexy' style of play despite being truly historic
Now, this is not to say that good defense is something scoffed at or unwelcome in today's game. However, to the general NBA fan, point totals and high-octane offensive systems are what tend to draw a crowd.
It's why the league removed the "center" position from the All-Star ballot in favor of the broader "frontcourt players" distinction over a decade ago, and why teams like Stephen Curry's Warriors and Jayson Tatum's Boston Celtics saw the most nationally televised games broadcast during the 2024-25 season.
Still, the Thunder have adopted a different, less splashy approach, which is to dominate teams on the defensive end. As Vecenie made sure to note during a recent episode of The Game Theory Podcast, it's even thrusting them into truly historic territory.
"They're a historically good defense. That's the whole thing. Their defense is historically relevant in comparison to the rest of NBA history, realistically, but especially within the last 30 years of NBA history," Vecenie said.
Last season, the Thunder led all teams in defensive rating (106.6), steals per game (10.3), and opponent field goal percentage (43.6) while finishing with the best point differential in league history (+12.9).
Yet, even with all this elite statistical backing, along with the fact that they just won the fifth-most games (68) in regular season history and ultimately ran the postseason gamut, during the podcast episode Oklahoma City was labeled as more comparable to the Chauncey Billups and Ben Wallace-led Pistons of 2004 rather than, say, the 2010s Warriors or the always coveted 1990s Bulls.
No disrespect to that Detroit team, but they are one of the biggest, if not the biggest, Cinderella Story champions of the 21 century.
The Thunder, on the other hand, are believed to be on the verge of becoming the game's next great dynasty, what with their young core of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren, elite roster depth, and a treasure trove of future draft capital in their possession.
The sad reality, however, is that, at least at this point in time, they are not yet treated as so.