Throughout NBA history, the general consensus has been akin to Ric Flair's famous quote: "To be the man, you've got to beat the man." No matter what happens during free agency or the draft, teams are only due to be favored over the defending champions once they've defeated them.
The strange history that the Oklahoma City Thunder are now fighting against, however, suggests that entering a season as the defending champion is more of a disadvantage than an early edge.
Oklahoma City won the 2025 NBA championship and quickly built on that success with a stellar 2025-26 campaign. The Thunder finished the regular season with the best record in the Association at 64-18, as well as the best home and away records at 34-7 and 30-10.
Unfortunately, as analyst Nate Duncan pointed out, none of the four NBA champions before the Thunder have made it past the second round in any season since they won the title.
Thunder begin their matchup vs. parity tonight pic.twitter.com/Q6fICe8dvK
— Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) May 5, 2026
For as shocking as that may be, it's actually not even the most concerning element of the history that the Thunder are fighting against.
No defending champion has advanced past Round 2 the following since 2019
Run the evaluation back a little bit further and the 2020 NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers lost in the first round of the playoffs the following season. They were able to make it to the 2023 Western Conference Finals, but it took three long years to win another playoff series.
Furthermore, the Toronto Raptors won the NBA championship in 2018-19, but lost in the second round in 2019-20 and haven't won a playoff series since.
The last team to actually make it past the second round of the playoffs the year after they won a title was the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors won a second straight championship in 2017-18 and returned to the NBA Finals in 2018-19.
The Warriors also won another championship in 2022, but it's worth noting that it was their only trip beyond the second round over the past seven seasons.
With this established, the Thunder have effectively been challenged to prove that they can break an alarming trend. They must not only find a way to defeat the Lakers and reach the Conference Finals, but prove that it's possible in an era of parity to sustain deep playoff runs after winning a title.
Oklahoma City remains a favorite to win the championship, but odds are meant to be broken and the Thunder have history to defy.
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