With the 2025-26 NBA Season Looming, Oklahoma City Stacks Win After Win

As the upcoming season is just around the corner, the Thunder and its players have piled on accolade after accolade this offseason.

Jun 22, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) drives to the basket against the Indiana Pacers during the first half of game seven of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The Oklahoma City Thunder's season a year ago was everything the team could have asked for in the end.

No detrimental injuries throughout the season—none that affected the team's play in the end, that is—Shai Gilgeous-Alexander claiming the scoring title and the NBA's Most Valuable Player award, and of course, garnering invaluable experience en route to the team's first-ever NBA title.

Oklahoma City had a historic season full of incredible feats like curating the biggest point differential on average in NBA history throughout the regular season. Those who turned the other cheek to the Thunder in the regular season saw the true potential realized when the team hoisted up that Larry O'Brien trophy, but it did not stop there.

Even following the ceremony after defeating the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals, the Thunder were still stacking wins—and it's carried all the way into mid-September of 2025, just weeks before the first preseason contest for Oklahoma City is underway.

Rolling it back to July, just a couple weeks after the Thunder claimed its ring, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was recognized alongside his teammates at the ESPY Awards. Being pinned next to all-time greats like Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Michael Phelps and even two former Thunder superstars in Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, Gilgeous-Alexander was named the 2025 Best Male Athlete.

Teammates embraced him as Gilgeous-Alexander went to nervously give his speech, and it was an extension of his and the team's amazing accomplishments from the previous season.

Beyond that, Gilgeous-Alexander made the NBA 2K26 cover as its cover athlete, something that every kid who loves and plays basketball dreams of—and he realized it.

Jun 22, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) after winning game seven of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

But now in September, his parter in crime also has a big deal to boast about. The 24-year-old Thunder guard Jalen Williams has graced the cover of SLAM Magazine—another feat that any hoops guru would dream about.

SLAM highlights Williams unorthodox path to the league from unknown recruit to mid-major star to an eventual NBA All-Star and NBA Champion.

"The first time I thought I was going to play in the NBA for a long time was probably the 40-ball in Game 5 of the NBA Finals," Williams said to SLAM.

See, even NBA stars get imposter syndrome. But in a cutthroat league like the NBA, having this mentality has certainly helped Williams get to where he is today as he holds a competitive edge as rigid as any.

With an offseason full of accomplishments and gratification, stepping on that hardwood for the first time this coming season will likely be a surreal moment to them. In the moment, it probably won't mean much—but at its core, these guys are champs, and the history books will always honor that.

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