Following a brief rebuilding stint from 2021-22 to 2022-23, the OKC Thunder have officially thrust themselves into the upper echelon of the league's elite.
From two consecutive seasons dominating the top seed in the Western Conference standings to, now, being one win away from claiming the Emirates NBA Cup, Oklahoma City has emerged as not only a true title threat this season but, considering their enviably young age, the many to come.
Yet, despite their well-documented excellence and slew of top-billed talents like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren in tow, many Thunder fans have gone public to vocalize their displeasures about a lack of attention from the NBA's marketing team.
Frankly, they have a point.
Coming into the year, Oklahoma City ranked just 10 in non-NBA TV nationally televised broadcasts with 15 total and was also left out of the always coveted Christmas Day slate, which, historically, includes the best teams the league has to offer.
As the months have gone by and with the Thunder dominating the West yet again, they've deservedly had two additional games be flexed into nationwide slots, though even this still has them fall short of cracking the top-eight in this department while trailing clear subordinates like the 7-16 Philadelphia 76ers (21 games) and the 14-11 Minnesota Timberwolves (18 games).
Unsurprisingly, the OKC faithful still view this late-stage marketing effort from Adam Silver and company as being a bit underwhelming. However, it appears that this feeling is starting to stretch beyond the Sooner State, as ESPN's Tim MacMahon recently slammed the league for their failure to give Mark Daigneault's club the attention and recognition they've rightly earned.
ESPN Analyst slams NBA for their lack of OKC Thunder marketing
"The league screwed up. The Thunder, the team that was the number one seed in the West last year with that much young talent absolutely should have been on Christmas. I've said this before, but the NBA needs to figure out how to market Oklahoma City. Don't cry about ratings for the or attention to Finals because this is a team that, over the next five years, is going to win a lot of playoff series. They're going to be playing deep into May, likely into June on some occasions. You better figure out how to make this a marketable franchise," MacMahon said during a recent appearance on The Hoop Collective Podcast.
Interestingly enough, this is not even the first time the Thunder have dealt with a lack of league-wide attention despite being one of the best products the NBA has had to offer.
Back during the 2011-12 campaign when they sported an astonishing rotation consisting of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden and ultimately made a run to the NBA Finals, Oklahoma City saw just 17 non-NBA TV nationally broadcast games throughout the regular season.
That said, even that squad was still included on the Christmas Day schedule, so there's an argument to be made that that iteration wasn't nearly as disrespected as this one currently is.
Even with their raucous and devoted followers, it's more than apparent that the OKC Thunder are being overlooked as a result of residing in a small market location.
As both fans and, now, ESPN's Tim MacMahon will agree, this lack of recognition when considering their on-court successes and roster filled with several star-level talents is absolutely bewildering and leaves the league subject to highly warranted criticism.
Something's gotta change!