By James Mario Ajero
As the Oklahoma Thunder continue to reign supreme in the NBA, it remains to be seen whether the team has enough pieces to make its championship aspirations a dream come true.
Sitting on a league-best 60 wins and 12 losses, the Thunder is a solid contender for the 2024-2025 NBA crown with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as a frontrunner in the regular season Most Valuable Player race.
Averaging 32.8 points, 6.3 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.0 blocks on 52.2 percent shooting from the field, Shai’s stat numbers tell a lot about OKC’s success story in the regular season.
OKC’s future is even brighter with big man Chet Holmgren, who was seen as the toughest rival of French wonder kid Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs.
With a world-class organization, a bona fide superstar in Shai, and a competitive supporting cast: the Thunder appear to be cruising to its first-ever championship title.
Rumors are now swirling of a return to the team by superstar Kevin Durant.
Durant-Westbrook-Harden dynasty
The path to glory seems as wide as ever for OKC, but no true NBA fan would ever forget how close the Thunder were to a championship during the 2010s.
Before relocating to Oklahoma City in the 2008-2009 season, the now-defunct Seattle Supersonics drafted 7-foot-5 wingspan Kevin Durant as their cornerstone player.
As the newest team in the block, OKC also drafted the athletic beast Russell Westbrook, followed by James Harden who had shown flashes of brilliance as a scoring machine in his college days.
This trio, together with Serge Ibaka, Jeff Green, and Kendrick Perkins, went deep in the playoffs.
Though younger compared to their Western Conference peers like Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers or Dirk Nowitzki’s Dallas Mavericks, this Thunder team proved to be talented enough to score a 50-32 win-loss record in the 2009-2010 season.
The Thunder team went to four Western Conference finals in the span of six seasons, reaching the NBA finals once in 2012 before succumbing to the Miami Heat’s big three.
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An unexpected breakup
The slow disintegration of the OKC could be summed up into three reasons: injuries, cap space, and the Golden State Warriors.
To the disappointment of many OKC fans, the team had to trade Harden to the Houston Rockets in October 2012 to avoid paying a hefty luxury tax after signing Westbrook to a maximum contract.
Though the Thunder were still strong enough for a 62-win regular season performance without Harden, their championship chances went sour in the 2013 playoffs after Westbrook tore his meniscus against the Rockets, then led by Harden.
KD, meanwhile, made a career decision that went down as one of the most talked about NBA moments ever: he joined Steph Curry’s Warriors.
Veteran sports analyst Stephen A. Smith did not mince his words in his criticism of KD, calling it “the weakest move I’ve ever seen from a superstar.”
Let bygones be bygones
NBA players reuniting with the teams that drafted them is not new in the league.
The most recent and best example would be Lebron James, who rejoined the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015 after leaving the team in 2010 for Miami.
Likewise, a thunderous return to OKC could be another career-defining moment for Durant.
His critics were vocal in saying that his two championships with Golden State pale in value when compared to other superstars, like Lebron or Curry.
Some even say that Dirk Nowitzki’s 2011 title weighs more than Durant’s two, considering that Dallas had a far tougher road compared to the 2017 and 2018 Warriors who only had a 35-year-old Lebron to stop them.
Helping OKC win its first-ever NBA championship ring would be a fitting ending to Durant’s illustrious career, leaving both his fans and critics to ponder on which place among the league’s greatest he belongs to.
‘Durantula’
Recent reports suggest that Durant disapproves of the Phoenix Suns showing interest in moving him to another team.
With his legacy at stake, only the ‘Durantula’ can decide whether a return to Oklahoma is the best option for him.
As a 36-year-old veteran, KD has not lost touch with his offensive talent, averaging 26.8 points in a 52.8 percent field goal rating.
Durant’s imposing presence would stretch the floor in favor of Shai and Holmgren who are both ball-dominant.
KD has also praised Shai, emphasizing the younger player’s fighter mentality.
“He’s one of the dudes who’s always gonna put the ball in the rim. So watching him, just knowing he’s gonna be efficient with it, it’s just fun to watch.”
“He putting on like a masterclass out there, he like working out. He play like he care about his stance and his place in the game,” said KD, according to a report from Basketball Network.
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