Stiles Points: OKC Thunder Understands the Job Is Not Finished Despite Hot Start

The Oklahoma City Thunder sit just a game and a half behind the Minnesota Timberwolves for the top spot in the NBA Western Conference. With a 37-17 record, the Thunder are once again surprising the masses.

Despite the growing national attention and the shifting expectations, the OKC Thunder are sticking behind a straightforward message: "Job's Not Finished."

On Saturday, OKC Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was asked about the message the second-youngest roster in the NBA is sending to the rest of the league.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was asked about the message they’re sending heading into the second half of the season “jobs not finished” pic.twitter.com/tTM2fKHm2g
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) February 17, 2024

"I don't think it's a message to the rest of the league. I think it's a mentality, almost like a message to ourselves that the job's not finished, not even close. We're a little bit more than halfway through the season. But our goal wasn't to be 37-17 halfway through the season. We want bigger things and better things. Obviously, we're not done. So, yeah, I think it's more of a message to ourselves," Gilgeous-Alexander said.

That was consistent with a talking point rookie guard, Cason Wallace, said just hours prior at the NBA Rising Stars Challenge, "Everybody is talking about, the job is not finished, and how we are going to come back and have more juice than before," the Kentucky product said when asked if he is excited to get back to work next week in Bricktown.

The Thunder have put themselves in the driver's seat to host a playoff series with 28 games left in the regular season. Oklahoma City has a four-and-a-half game cushion over the Phoenix Suns, who currently own the fifth-best record in the Western Conference.

Despite being such a young team, they are not riding the high of early season success, which should give them good fortune down the stretch of the season with another sign of their uncommon maturity.

Stiles Points

Gilgeous-Alexander also highly praised his head coach, Mark Daigneault: "He's super, super humble, a great guy, first and foremost. Really down to earth, easy to talk to, easy to work with. Easy to get along with. Then, as far as on the court, he has an ability to -- he always understands what the right thing to say is. And the things that matter, he always emphasizes. When he speaks, guys listen, and guys understand that it's something that is going to make or break our team. I think that over time, we've seen his -- not only his development, but we've seen kind of his schemes and his work coming to life and really lead this pack and steer us in the right way. We all have his respect and appreciate him."
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