Even though they may be top-dogs in the Western Conference standings and sport the best record in the NBA at 44-10, the OKC Thunder still have yet to silence their haters.
Over the last several weeks, Oklahoma City has been on the receiving end of some seriously slanderous remarks.
From ESPN's Shannon Sharpe guaranteeing a Thunder loss in the playoffs should they match up against the Luka Doncic-led Los Angeles Lakers to Warriors star Draymond Green's recent claims suggesting that not even OKC gives him pause when it comes to Golden State's title aspirations, it appears the ball club is still far from being viewed as an unquestionable powerhouse.
Even one of the biggest campaigners for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's MVP bid last season, Stephen A. Smith, joined in on the action of downplaying this Oklahoma City squad, as he revealed on a recent episode of First Take that, in his eyes, they're not a legitimate championship threat in 2024-25.
Stephen A. Smith labels Thunder a pretender rather than title contender
Though he acknowledged in his assessment of the Thunder that he's still of the belief Gilgeous-Alexander should end up coming away with the Most Valuable Player award this season, when looking at the team as a whole he feels they still fall short of earning his trust of being a championship contender.
His reason: Because of their past failures.
“I think Sam Presti is one of the elite executives in the game. This man has put a roster together but look at the players he's had over the years. The man still hasn’t won a championship. I don’t know if there’s some black cat running around that franchise, I don’t know what the hell is going on, but somehow, someway, they find a way not to get it done. So until they do, no I’m not going to put my money on them," Smith said.
Now, to be fair to Smith, Oklahoma City has had some stellar squads throughout their 17-year tenure in the Sooner State.
From their big three of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden to their dynamic duo of Russ and Paul George, it's undeniable that Sam Presti has pieced together some seriously elite teams over the years.
Unfortunately, all they have to show for them are highlights including one NBA Finals appearance, four Conference Finals trips, and Damian Lillard's infamous logo dagger.
However, it's ridiculous to have expectations for this team be based on the follies of years past because, simply put, they're a completely different group.
No more are the days of Durant and Westbrook. Instead, this Thunder team is spearheaded by one of the league's best young trios in SGA, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren and accompanied by perhaps the deepest rotation in the game.
In their first season as a big three, they managed to push the much more experienced and eventual conference champions, the Dallas Mavericks, to six games in the second round of the playoffs. This past summer, they made improving their size and physicality (i.e. the main reasons for their playoff exit) a priority by signing the highly coveted 7-footer Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency.
And what does this team have to show for their current assortment of talent being guided by perhaps the best head coach in the game in Mark Daigneault? Only the top defensive rating in the league (104.5) and the greatest net rating and average margin of victory in NBA history of 12.8 and 12.9, respectively!
As mentioned earlier, over the past few weeks the Thunder have been on the receiving end of some wild criticisms and baseless hate from both established and so-called experts of the sport.
Without a doubt, Stephen A. Smith's recent take is the most dumbfounding of them all.