Oklahoma City Thunder Are NBA Champions, The Youngest and Most Perfect Team

OKLAHOMA, SUNDAY — The Oklahoma City Thunder successfully shattered the NBA myth. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his teammates proved that talent is more valuable than experience. Together with the youngest and most talented squad in the league, the Thunder completed their status as the best team in the regular season with a championship trophy at the end of the season.

The Thunder emerged as the champions of the NBA 2024-25 season after defeating the Indiana Pacers in Game Seven of the finals, 103-91, at the Paycom Center on Monday (23/6/2025) morning WIB. In front of tens of thousands of their home supporters, they secured the trophy for the first time since the club relocated from Seattle to Oklahoma in 2008.

"It feels unreal. So many hours, moments, emotions, and unbelievable nights," said Shai, who was selected as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Finals, with a trembling tone. "It's truly crazy to know that we are all here. But, we worked hard for it and deserve it," he continued.

No team deserved to win more than the Thunder. Coach Mark Daigneault's team showed its potential to win the title since the regular season, when it became the team with the best winning record (68-14). The standard of performance continued to climb from the early rounds of the playoffs to the decisive match in Game 7 of the finals.

The Thunder were doubted before the playoffs because of their very young and inexperienced squad. They started the season with an average squad age of 24.1 years, having only won one playoff series since 2016. As is well known, the playoffs, which are elimination rounds, are always associated with maturity and a champion mentality.

However, the Thunder can compensate for their experience deficit with a remarkable squad quality. The young star trio, Shai (26), Chet Holmgren (23), and Jalen Williams (24), is too dominant to be stopped by opposing teams. The support from specialist defensive players, Luguentz Dort and Alex Caruso, makes the Thunder even more formidable.

The Thunder concluded the season as champions with the second youngest squad in NBA history, averaging 25.6 years. Only the Portland Trail Blazers (25.56) in the 1996-97 season were younger. "Age is just a number. Sacrifice and maturity are the main things. They possess that character (to be champions)," said Thunder General Manager Sam Presti.

Shai is a key reflection of the great talent within the Thunder squad. The Canadian national team player successfully achieved the titles of Finals MVP, Regular Season MVP, and leading scorer all in one season. Previously, only three players had managed to accomplish this: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, and Shaquille O’Neal.

Shai has consistently shown character as a leader and a team-leading scorer throughout the playoffs. He has been the hero in every series, from the Memphis Grizzlies (4-0), Minnesota Timberwolves (4-1), and Denver Nuggets (4-3), to the Pacers (4-3). He averaged 30 points, 6.3 assists, and 5.4 rebounds in the playoffs.

Game 7 represented the Thunder's dominance and the Pacers' irony. The Thunder were unstoppable with the trio of Shai (29 points, 12 assists), Jalen Williams (20 points), and Chet Holmgren (18 points, 5 blocks). Meanwhile, the visitors were unlucky from the start after mainstay guard Tyrese Haliburton suffered a horror Achilles injury in the first quarter.

The Thunder squad struggled in the first half, as the Pacers players were more motivated following Haliburton's injury. Fortunately, Diagneault managed to rally his team in the locker room. The coach stated that they have everything needed to be champions and just need to demonstrate it in the last 24 minutes.

Sure enough, when at their best, the Thunder were untouchable. From a 47-48 halftime deficit, the hosts turned things around in the third quarter. They raced to a nine-point lead (65-56) in less than five minutes. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle was forced to take two timeouts.

The Thunder's offense wasn't particularly special in the game, but their fighting spirit and defense were hard to beat. They managed to grab offensive rebounds and forced turnovers multiple times. Those two factors made the Thunder's shot attempts far superior to the Pacers' 87-70.

Dort and Caruso, each with three steals, were the Thunder's primary defenders. The home defense was so aggressive that the Pacers were held to 68 points for more than five minutes from the end of the third quarter to the beginning of the fourth quarter. In that span, the Thunder were able to score 13 more points and lead by 22 points.

Daigneault stated that his team does not have championship experience, but possesses a winning character. "They behave and compete like champions. They support each other's success, which is rare in professional sports. I have said repeatedly, this is not an ordinary team and now we have become champions," he said.

Two bench players for the Pacers, T. J. McConnell (16 points) and Bennedict Mathurin (24 points), performed well to fill the void left by Haliburton. However, Haliburton's leadership remains irreplaceable. "Our hearts are broken seeing what happened to Tyrese. He is an important part that makes this group believe in winning," explained Carlisle. (AP)