The Oklahoma City Thunder are NBA champions for the primary time in franchise historical past, outlasting the Indiana Pacers in a dramatic seven-game NBA Finals.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was nothing wanting spectacular, averaging 30.3 factors per sport within the sequence and solidifying himself because the face of the franchise. However does this Finals run make him the best Thunder participant of all time?
It’s a query that deserves a slight pause.
Gilgeous-Alexander has achieved what Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden couldn’t: deliver a title to OKC. His calm in clutch moments, management by instance, and postseason poise now belong to the historical past books. However for a lot of, together with myself, Kevin Durant nonetheless holds the crown, regardless of the controversial departure in 2016.
Durant was a league MVP, a four-time scoring champ and led OKC to the Finals in 2012. Westbrook, along with his triple-double dominance and MVP season, etched his personal legendary run. Harden was a Sixth Man of the 12 months. And let’s not overlook the loyalty of Nick Collison or the grit of Steven Adams, who embodied the Thunder tradition.
However the Thunder by no means reached the mountaintop—till now. Shai’s title offers him an edge, and at simply 26 years previous, his story continues to be being written. If championships are the last word measuring stick, this will solely be the start of his GOAT marketing campaign in Oklahoma Metropolis.
Proper now, Shai isn’t the biggest Thunder ever—however he’s on the doorstep, and if he stays the course, he would possibly slam that door shut prior to we predict.
