Last season, the OKC Thunder ran the ever treacherous postseason gamut and officially became the 79 team to win an NBA Championship.
Along the way, the ball club found itself fighting through an exorbitant number of adversities.
From widespread injuries to intense, down-to-the-wire playoff series, it's safe to assume that, at least for the majority of the team, the road to ultimate glory proved to be the greatest challenge all members of this Oklahoma City squad have faced in their respective careers.
Now, heading into their follow-up 2025-26 season, ESPN's Tim MacMahon believes that a new challenge will be afoot for the Thunder, one that should already be viewed as their biggest test yet.
Teams will bring their A game every night when playing OKC Thunder
In a recent piece discussing under-the-radar concerns for every contender heading into the forthcoming campaign, the veteran reporter clearly struggled to find anything specific Thunder fans should be overtly worried about when it comes to this team.
Given that they're heading into the year with the best odds to repeat at +225 (per ESPN) and with the majority of their historic core led by reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander still intact, this is far from a surprise.
However, as MacMahon noted in the piece, with their newly established status as the league's top dogs, along with these lofty hopes of being the first team to repeat since 2018, a target has now been painted on their backs, one that all foes will be looking to take aim at.
"Oklahoma City is now the measuring stick for the rest of the league, meaning the Thunder will get the best shot from opponents on a nightly basis," MacMahon said.
Simply put, this is what comes with being crowned as NBA Champions. In order to be the best, a team needs to beat the best, and, right now, Oklahoma City is the one to beat.
Of course, considering just how dominant this returning core was last season, the franchise's faithful followers shouldn't be too concerned about what opposing teams will end up throwing at them.
The odds-makers certainly aren't.
Even with direct conference threats like the Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets improving their respective talent pools this offseason, as things currently stand, the Thunder are still projected as having the highest over/ under win total at 62.5
On top of all this, being added to this battle-tested rotation are a few new players who appear capable of providing on-court attributes that were sorely lacking in 2024-25.
Either way, as MacMahon reminded readers of in his article, coach Mark Daigneault has regularly gone on record claiming that his players possess an "uncommon maturity" for such a young group.
2025-26 will be the perfect opportunity to put this rare trait on full display for all to see.