The Oklahoma City Thunder are starting to turn their attention away from the 2025 championship they just won and toward the upcoming 2025-26 NBA season, which is slated to begin in a month and a half. The Thunder are returning almost the exact same roster from last year that bulldozed through the Western Conference playoffs before holding on for dear life against the Indiana Pacers.
It was the first championship in the team's Oklahoma City history, giving the franchise a huge weight off its shoulders. The last time Oklahoma City was in legitimate championship contention prior to this year was during the 2015-16 season, Kevin Durant's last campaign with the Thunder, in which they went up 3-1 on the 73-win Golden State Warriors and then, you know the rest.
Recently, Billy Donovan, the current head coach of the Chicago Bulls who was the coach of the Thunder during that season, shouted out Oklahoma City for finally getting over the hump during his Hall of Fame speech.
“Another person that was a great help to me was Mark Daigneault,” said Donovan, per Oh No He Didn't on X, formerly Twitter. “Mark and I worked together a number of years at Florida before he moved on to Oklahoma City and the NBA, and when I came there, he was a great coach, a great partner, a great friend. I just want to congratulate Mark and the Oklahoma City Thunder, Sam Presti, and Clay Bennett and their organization. What a great run, winning the championship. Really happy for you.”
A classy gesture
As Donovan referenced in his speech, he found great success at Florida, winning two national championships with the Gators, at which point he worked with Mark Daigneault before both moved on to the NBA.
While Daigneault did have the NBA's best roster and arguably its second best player to work with, he still did an admirable job of leading one of the youngest teams in the NBA to the league's mountaintop.
In any case, the Thunder now have just a few weeks remaining until they begin training camp for the upcoming season. The season itself will begin on October 21 against the Houston Rockets.
