Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may have just led the Oklahoma City Thunder to their first title since 1979, but the reigning Finals MVP isn’t letting last season’s success cloud his judgment.
Gilgeous-Alexander explained that while the championship was special, it wasn’t the peak version of his team, speaking after Oklahoma City’s 9–1 start.
“Honestly speaking, I didn’t like the way we won, if that makes sense,” Gilgeous-Alexander told The Athletic’s Sam Amick. “I didn’t think we won an NBA championship playing our best basketball. That was the first time we’d been that far in the playoffs, so it was a learning experience for us.
“But it takes another level of focus, discipline, assertiveness, aggression, to be who we were in the regular season, and do that throughout the postseason.”
The Thunder’s title run last year was built on toughness. They battled through two seven-game series, surviving Denver in the Western Conference Finals before outlasting Indiana in the NBA Finals, but it wasn’t always pretty.
For Gilgeous-Alexander, the experience served as both a victory and a lesson.
Oklahoma City’s 2025–26 campaign has opened with even greater confidence and precision. They currently own the league’s best defense and the sixth-ranked offense, all while missing All-NBA forward Jalen Williams, who remains sidelined after wrist surgery.
The team’s mindset this year is rooted in improvement rather than celebration, head coach Mark Daigneault told The Athletic earlier this week.
“Offensively, we’ve tried to look at the season as if we lost in the second round, if we lost Game 7 against Denver. How would we be approaching this?” Daigneault said. “Rather than allowing the fact that we won it to bias us coming in… we’re pushing ourselves to evolve.”
If Gilgeous-Alexander’s words are any indication, the Thunder aren’t satisfied with one banner, they’re chasing something even bigger.
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