Even with the fact that the OKC Thunder own the best record in the league, have officially locked up the top-seed in the Western Conference standings, and roster arguably the favorite to win MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, they are still regularly being undersold as a serious title threat.
Throughout the year, many naysayers have emerged and been rather vocal about their lack of confidence in Oklahoma City's ability to win the 2025 NBA Finals.
From their limited experience succeeding in the playoffs to this oddly popular narrative that the ball club won't be able to handle the physicality that the postseason brings, the reasonings behind this widespread doubt range from questionable at best to flat-out incorrect takes at worst.
ESPN's Shannon Sharpe has even predicted that the Thunder would lose to the Los Angeles Lakers if the two teams meet in this year's playoffs.
Of course, based on how things have recently played out for LeBron James and company, the outspoken sports personality may not need to wait too long before seeing such a series take place.
Lakers slide could lead to first-round matchup against the OKC Thunder
Following their blockbuster acquisition of Luka Doncic ahead of the February 6 NBA trade deadline, it appeared this once middle-of-the-pack Lakers squad had officially revitalized themselves. With both him and LeBron sharing the floor together, Los Angeles found themselves going 8-3 over their first 11-game stretch and rattled off a mesmerizing seven wins in a row along the way.
Because of this, many fans and pundits began to seriously believe this new superstar tandem may have the potential to take down any team in the league, thus sparking premature predictions such as Sharpe's where he said: "If the Lakers get the OKC Thunder in the Western Conference [Finals], we are going to the NBA Finals."
However, like all good things tend to do, these winning ways have come to a concerning stop during these final few weeks of the year.
Due to both injury woes (James missed seven straight games with a groin strain) and poor on-court executions, since March 8, the Lakers have registered a record of just 3-7 while sporting the seventh-worst net rating in the entire league at -7.1.
As a result, Los Angeles has gone from the second seed out West to now being more likely to fall to the eighth seed (two wins ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves) than reclaiming their previous standing (three wins behind the Houston Rockets).
And what would happen if they claimed such a spot on the conference totem pole? They'd see a first-round matchup against the top-ranked Thunder, of course!
Now, granted, falling down to the eighth seed in the regular season standings does not guarantee a team will wind up placing in said rank for the postseason. With the Play-In Tournament's structure, teams from the seventh to 10 seed will be in contention for the final two playoff spots.
With that being said, Los Angeles is currently just three games removed from dipping into the play-in pool.
Being they'll be squaring off against seven teams (twice against the Thunder, ironically) over their final 11 games that are 10-plus wins above .500 and fighting for a high-end playoff seed, there's a rather strong possibility that Oklahoma City could be playing host to the sliding Lakers in round one, which would give Mr. Sharpe a sooner than anticipated answer to his bold proclamation.
A matchup such as this, particularly right out of the gates, is almost certainly not what LA is hoping for.