The Oklahoma City Thunder finally had their crowning achievement immortalized in their stadium. As is customary on Opening Day, OKC's championship banner was hung in the rafters of Paycom Stadium. It was a great reminder of the Thunder's amazing run last season and the work everyone in the organization had to do to get to that position.
Even Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander found himself mesmerized by the whole ceremony. The star was asked after their game about his reaction to the banner-raising ceremony. SGA's answer oozed wonder and awe, the reigning MVP clearly feeling the emotions of winning the championship again.
“It was surreal,” Gilgeous-Alexander said, per ClutchPoints. “It felt like it was going up for 10 minutes. It was an amazing moment. I'll remember it for the rest of my life.”
The Thunder were the most dominant team in the NBA last season, cruising to the first seed in the 2025 NBA playoffs with a 68-14 record. The driving force behind that record was, of course, SGA, who won league MVP after averaging 32.7 points, 6.4 assists, and five rebounds per game. With SGA as the focal point of the offense and the rest of the supporting crew performing their roles to perfection, the Thunder went into the playoffs as the clear favorites.
The Thunder would live up to being the favorites in the playoffs. They knocked off the upstart Memphis Grizzlies in the first round, then dispatched the reigning champions Denver Nuggets in seven games to advance to the Conference Finals. There, they'd take out the Minnesota Timberwolves to face the Indiana Pacers in the finals. A hard-fought seven-game series later, the Thunder came out with their first NBA championship in franchise history.
Gilgeous-Alexander was key to their championship run, and he proved to be the difference-maker again in their season-opener. The reigning MVP drew a crucial foul against former Thunder star Kevin Durant to win the game against the Houston Rockets.
