Over the past few years, the OKC Thunder have built up a reputation of being a highly physical group that, as Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch put it, fouls "all the time."
Earlier this week, Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama continued peddling this widespread belief when he told reporters, "I'm going to be sore in a few places tomorrow for sure," following their January 13 matchup.
However, in a rather shocking turn of events, the Sooner State's own Benedict Arnold, Kevin Durant, has publicly taken a stand in opposition to this narrative.
Kevin Durant fights against narrative of Thunder being extra physical
After being bested by the Thunder via a 111-91 blowout on Thursday night, the Rockets' star was asked by members of the media whether he believes OKC is "more grabby and foul-prone" than other clubs in the league.
Considering he registered one of his worst scoring performances of the year with 19 points while shooting just 30.4 percent from the floor and missing all five of his attempts from deep, it would have been quite easy to try and side-step blame for his poor efforts and chalk it up to the presumed slap-happy nature of Oklahoma City.
However, in a highly mature fashion, Durant didn't make any excuses and, instead, came to the defense of his former team.
"[They're] no different than any other group. They play with physicality for sure, but that's what championship organizations do. I don't think they toe the line or anything. I just think they play swarming basketball, they all rush to the ball, they play physical off the ball... I don't think they do too much or anything extra. I just think they play together and know how to swarm the basketball," Durant said.
Now, granted, this is by no means the first time Durant has spoken kindly about the Thunder since his infamous departure for the Golden State Warriors back in 2016.
Just last year, before the club claimed their first Larry O'Brien Trophy, the 15-time All-Star praised this young core for being a "flat-out perfectly crafted unit."
Still, Durant being the big-name figure to stand up for Oklahoma City against this kind of slanderous descriptor was likely not on anyone's 2026 bingo card.
The Thunder are undoubtedly the best defensive unit in the game today. From their timing on swatting shots to knowing how to get the perfect angle on swiping the ball out of an opposing handler's grasp, this team is, without question, a true nightmare to square off against.
With this, it should come as no surprise that they've ruffled a few feathers with their expertise along the way, and, in turn, have made opposing teams inflate the notion that they get away with playing a more handsy brand of basketball simply based on emotion rather than logic or facts.