Despite their league-leading record of 64-14 and the fact that they're on track to set several all-time marks, the OKC Thunder regularly find themselves on the receiving end of disparaging hot takes.
From insulting claims that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a "free throw merchant" to the belief that, even amid such a dominant campaign, their overall youthfulness should hinder their championship viability, there's a popular, ongoing fad among social media keyboard warriors and prominent pundits alike that Oklahoma City may not be the title favorite that odds-makers make them out to be.
Perhaps no naysayer has been louder about their lack of belief in this Thunder club throughout the year than ESPN's Shannon Sharpe, who, only a few short months ago, guaranteed that if the Lakers met them in the playoffs, Los Angeles would come away from the series victorious.
Now, following their recent loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday afternoon, this type of rhetoric only seems to be picking up more steam.
During Monday morning's episode of First Take, the analyst was seen not only doubling down on his initial take but went as far as to predict the exact number of games it would take for LA to beat the Thunder in a hypothetical playoff matchup.
Shannon Sharpe makes another bold prediction for Thunder playoff run
"The third-best player on the team is the GOAT player of the NBA's history, LeBron James. We got Kobe of the Ozark, we got Baby Bird. What you gonna do with Luka? Who you gonna put on Luka? Lu Dort? It don't matter divorce court, child support, Lu Dort -- Lakers in five," Sharpe said.
If Sharpe's original comments on a potential playoff matchup between the Lakers and Thunder weren't already seen as premature, these remarks following their recent matinee certainly should be.
First and foremost, this was the first game where LeBron James and Luka Doncic squared off against the top seeds as a tandem, as Los Angeles' last matchup against OKC came back on November 29 when the former was held to just 12 points in the loss while the latter was still a member of the Dallas Mavericks.
This alone suggests the analysts may be getting ahead of himself.
Secondly, as NBA insider Brian Windhorst reminded Sharpe amid his tirade, LA clearly was coming into the matchup with more at stake. SGA and company have already had their playoff ticket punched and conference standing secured for several weeks now, while the Lakers still "have everything on the line" as they are just two wins in front of falling into the Play-In Tournament.
With this in mind, though Oklahoma City obviously was playing to win, they were clearly not as hungry in this matchup, and it's easy to understand why.
Third of all, Los Angeles shot a blistering 54.8 percent from the field and 55.0 percent from distance on the day. Considering these are well over their season averages of 47.9 percent and 36.4 percent, respectively, and came against the top-ranked defense in the league, simple logic should have one assume this was a mere anomaly of a night and not easily replicable.
And, lastly, there's the not so subtle slight to Luguentz Dort.
Despite the fact that Doncic went on to drop 30 points on 55.0 percent shooting from the floor and 45.5 percent shooting from distance, even he has acknowledged the challenges that come with having someone like Dort shadowing him on defense, going as far as to label him "one of the best defenders in the NBA" following the contest.
The idea that the Lakers should now be seen as five-game favorites in a potential playoff series versus OKC with James and Doncic leading the charge is far too hasty of a take for anyone to hang their hat on.
Considering how the Thunder responded following their early-January loss to the Cavaliers (won by 20 in their second go-around just days later), don't be shocked to see them looking for vengeance during Tuesday's rematch in a similar fashion.