The Oklahoma City Thunder are BACK in the NBA Finals

The Oklahoma City Thunder are BACK in the NBA Finals

Yo, what’s going on y’all? It’s Conan and the Oklahoma City Thunder are in the NBA finals. I am emotional. I’ve been tearing up for the better part of like 30, 45 minutes ever since halftime happened and watching the the trophy ceremony and everything. It might come out in this video. I don’t really know. I I’m going to ramble. I don’t even know how much we’re going to talk about the game because it was an annihilation. But the Thunder in the finals and I couldn’t say that sentence to you since I was 12 years old. And I remember being a 12-year-old, uh, you know, very young, very naive, very early in my basketball watching career and watching the Thunder lose in the finals to the Miami Heat. It’s like, okay, you know, they weren’t really supposed to be there anyways. It’s it’s a very young Russ and KD and James Harden. They will be back. They weren’t back. Um, and then 2016, I thought they were going to get there and they go up 3-1 and then they lose game five and game six. Clay happens. And once that happens, I was like, I don’t know about game seven and they lose game seven. And my friends relentlessly clowned me. Uh, ever since then, you know, big character building moment for 16-year-old Cohen kind of made me into the guy I am today. Uh, but here we are. We are now 9 years after that 2016 incident. uh 13 years following losing in the 2012 finals and the Oklahoma City Thunder are back. They’re back in the NBA finals and I couldn’t be happier for this team, you know, for the rest of you Thunder fans out there. I mean, I’m happy for myself obviously. You know, it’s been not the longest rebuild in the world. I’ll admit that. You know, the Thunder didn’t go through 30 years of turmoil. We’ve seen a lot of MVP level players, but there was a lot of people doubting this Thunder team. Uh obviously, you know, a lot of people also believing. I’m not going to say like we were this massive underdog or anything. the Thunder have been the favorite to win the finals for a lot of the season, but all year I’ve been telling people they were going to get it done. Before the season, I said that and I said that Shay was going to win MVP. Both those things happen. They won the Western Conference, Shay’s the MVP. Got to go out there and win the NBA Finals. U but even when I, you know, made the prediction for the Thunder to win the finals in my NBA playoff prediction video, a lot of people were saying, “Oh, the only reason you picked the Thunder is because you’re a Thunder fan.” Or maybe it’s the fact that they won 68 games or one of the best defenses ever and have the MVP of the league in Shego just Alexander and two other members of a big three. that I said we’re going to step up and they did. I I’m over the moon happy for those guys. Jaylen Williams and Chad Holgren. Jada last year was not his best performance in that second round series against the Dallas Mavericks. It’s understandable a secondyear guy who was, you know, picked outside of the top 10, was being looked at to be the second scoring option on a Thunder team that exceeded almost everybody’s expectations, mine included, and had championship aspirations. And he struggled. He did. But coming into this playoff run, I said, “Dub’s gonna be a lot better.” And he has been. He ends up averaging 22 points per game on almost 50, 40, 80 splits in the the Western Conference Finals against a great defensive team in Minnesota who I will talk about a little bit towards the end of this video. Uh Dub proved everybody wrong. He’s been unbelievable through this stretch. An allNBA alldefensive player in his third season, that is rare company. And to have that guy, you know, be the 12th pick. He was the second pick the Thunder had in that 2022 draft. That is one of the greatest single draft classes any team has ever had because we also got Chad Homegrren. And Chad comes out of this uh you know very tumultuous season where he ends up breaking his hip and has to go through rehab in the middle of the year and comes back around the all-star break and he ends up finishing this game with 22 points, seven rebounds, three blocks, uh dunking absolutely everything, shooting with confidence. Shout to Dub2, shooting with confidence, knocking down mid-range jumpers, and attacking off the dribble. The Thunder don’t win this without these two guys. Shay was unbelievable. He is deservingly the conference finals MVP. And I’ll talk a lot about Shay, of course, but to see these two guys come into this situation and a lot of people doubting them, saying that they’re not expecting much, that the reason the Thunder can’t get it done is because of you two. And for them to do this, proven everybody wrong, and they’re going to continue to do so. Shay was masterful. 34782 steals. It’s what an MVP does. It’s what a guy that’s rapidly approaching the best player in the world conversation does. One of the best guards that’s ever played the game when it’s all said and done. having one of the best seasons ever, not just guard seasons ever. That’s definitely the case, but just one of the best individual seasons ever. Very few players have ever won MVP and Finals MVP in the same season. Shay is looking to become the first to ever win MVP Western Conference Files MVP and Finals MVP in the same season. U he’s just changing everything, changing the record books. This Thunder team has changed the record books all season. A million records have been set and yet people continue to doubt them because they’re young. When this team, that has never mattered. That has never mattered for this team that they are young. It it was a copout because people couldn’t find legitimate reasons why the Thunder weren’t going to win the Western Conference. It was just, oh, they don’t have experience, which yeah, experience matters, but not when you are a 68 win team, one of the most dominant teams in NBA history. And credit to Denver for pushing us to seven, I think, going through the turmoil and many ups and downs of that matchup helped turn the Thunder into this death squad that they were for a majority of this Minnesota series, running the Timberwolves off the court in three out of their four wins. I I think that’s really the series where the Thunder grew up, but it was always a moment that in my opinion was going to happen. It always was. This team was always going to make it to the NBA finals and I believe they’re going to win. Obviously, you know, they’re going to have to be Indiana or New York. We’ll see who’s there, but for the moment, the Thunder in the NBA Finals. And it’s not just the big three, it’s everybody. It is Lou Dort was an undrafted free agent. You know, he didn’t get drafted when it felt like he was going to. I remember at my draft party, real story, me and one of my friends uh became big Lou Dort fans throughout the process and we’re just sitting there hoping that Ludor gets drafted cuz I just want to see the guy succeed and he doesn’t go drafted and then the thunder sat him and from day one I was like this guy is going to do something for us. But I I can’t tell you that I knew he was going to be the starter on a team in the NBA finals turned into a 40% three-point shooter who hit four threes tonight. The guy that was being left wide open in that first playoff series of his against the Rockets is now an alldefensive player, which yeah, we saw that coming, but is also hitting four threes in a Western Conference Finals closeout game. Or Sam Pressley going out there and getting Alex Cruso and Isaiah Hartinstein. IHeart the biggest free agency signing in Thunder history. Alex Cruso, I would have given up 50 first round picks for him. We didn’t have to give up a single one. They the Bulls didn’t even get a second round pick for us. We should give the Bulls run office a ring if we win this because of them basically just giving us Alex Cruso. Uh he had he and Casem Wallace had Julius Randle seeing demons tonight. He’s going to be seeing those two in his nightmares for the literal rest of his life. And Cruso gets four steals. You want to talk about championship experience and that pedigree what he brings to the table, that energy, that hustle. And he and Casem Walls are this destructive bench defensive back court. And I don’t know how he’s a year two player and the Thunder traded up to get him a couple years ago. You want to talk about one of the greatest executives in the history of sports that is Sam Pressie. And I need the Thunder to go out there and get this ring so that Sam Prey can get his flowers for what he is, which is one of the greatest executives to ever be in a Sports Front Office, never mind just basketball. Uh the way that he drafted three MVPs, got another one with Shay in that trade. You know, he is going to say he wasn’t sure if he was going to be an MVP, which is very, very fair. But he insisted, if you look at all the reporting, that Shay was in that deal. He said, “I’m not doing this deal without Shay go Alexander.” And here he is as the MVP of the league. And also in that do we get the 12th overall pick from the Clippers which gets us Jaylen Williams another piece of that big three draft chat home rung rung rungrren at number two. Lou Dort undrafted free agent signs Isaiah Hartstein trades for Alex Caruso. Isaiah Joe out of uh free agency after he gets cut by the Sixers. Just a master class at building a championship team learning from so many mistakes that the Thunder saw in the earlier eras where they only made it to the finals once and couldn’t really get over the hump again. And now still so many first round picks and assets going forward. So well positioned. Everybody on this team, by the way, is under contract for next year. Every single player just unbelievable job. You know, he deserves his recognition. Mark Dagnel. A lot of people have questioned Mark Dagnald, his methods, you know, his experimentation. But it’s all led at us to this point where we’re here in the NBA finals. I remember very early on this process when there were all those people saying like, “Oh, are the Thunder going to have to trade Shay soon? Does he match the timeline? Does he want to be there? Is he going to ask out?” And Shay did an interview with my guy Andrew Schlle. Shout out to him. Um who’s and he said that I don’t think we’re going to be bad for very long. like I think this team is going to be good pretty soon. And that was the year that CH ends up making all NBA first team. The Thunder uh lose the Timberwolves, funnily enough, full circle moment there in the playin tournament. The next year, Thunder come back, they’re the one seed. Now this year, we beat the Wolves in the Western Conference Finals to advance to the NBA finals. Like three years ago, people were saying that Shay needs to get traded because he doesn’t fit the timeline and now he is the Western Conference Finals MVP and fighting for best play in the world conversations. That’s how quickly this Thunder thing turned around. That that’s how unprecedented. This is all unprecedented. is the second youngest team to ever make the NBA finals only behind I think it’s the Bill Walton Trailblazers. Um they were the youngest ones seat ever last season. This season they were the second youngest ones seat ever behind that team and they won 68 games. They were the second best net rating. Like none of this feels normal because it’s not. This is one of the greatest teams to ever play the game of basketball and people will recognize that at some point if they haven’t already and I feel so lucky to be a fan of this team. Uh my favorite Thunder team ever easily not even a conversation. It’s been an incredible ride. I’m ready for four more wins. need them to go ahead and close it out against New York if they pull off a miraculous comeback or a lot more likely Indiana. And I think that’s going to be an incredible finals. One of the best offenses that I’ve seen in the playoffs in a long time with Indiana and the Thunder, one of the best defenses we have we’ve ever seen. A dream match up for a basketball fan. Anybody who tells you they’re not going to watch the finals because of, you know, oh, small market, I don’t care. It’s not a real They’re not a real basketball fan. They’re not at all. The the Timberwolves who made it back to the Western Conference Finals, I didn’t think they were going to be in this spot again. I thought when they traded CAT, it was going to be a bigger step back for them this season, but they end up making that second half run. They were an unbelievable team. Ant had an amazing season. Became one of the most prolific three-point shooters I’ve ever watched, which was just a crazy development. He’s got so much runway still in his career to get better, too. And he impressed me a lot with his playmaking, with his reading of the game. Spacing, again, one of the best defenses ever in this Thunder team. Still, I felt like had a pretty effective series overall. Julius Randall, it was not really his series. I mean, he had a good statline in the end of this game, but turned the ball over a lot and just was pretty ineffective a few of the nights. But over the course of this full run, he erased any of the playoff Julius Randle Doubters and is in line for a bag this offseason. Same thing with the kill Alexander Walker who was 0 of eight in this game. Um, and Naz Reed, who ended up having 11 points, five of six shooting, but did have five turnovers. Like the Wolves just came out in this one, and you could tell that they knew that this was kind of the end for them, especially after the Thunder punched them in the face to begin this game. The body language and effort wasn’t the best in the world, which, you know, you definitely want to see better. I’m sure if you’re a Timberwolves fan, that sucks, but in the end, they accomplished way more than I thought they were going to. I was wrong about the Timberwolves. I’ll admit that. Huge credit to them. A huge offseason ahead of them too with Nquille. What is his contract situation going to be like and Nasrated? Do you bring back Julius Randall? Like you’ve got to reshape this team at least a little bit after losing to the Thunder because OKC is going to continue to be a problem in the Western Conference. What changes do you make to try and get over the hump to get back to this point next year and you know you’re trying to finally make it to an NBA finals third times the charm. So they’ve got a lot ahead of them. Um but for right now the Thunderback of the NBA Finals and it feels so good to say that. I think I’m just going to keep repeating that to myself honestly for the rest of the night. I don’t know how I’m supposed to sleep at this point. Isn’t it so funny that people are telling me that this Thunder team was going to be a second round X after they won 68 games and won the second best net ring ever. Isn’t that Isn’t that funny how a team that did all that is, you know, kind of good at basketball? One of the best defenses ever. Yeah, it makes sense. They’re in the NBA finals. Um, yeah, that’s where we are. NBA Finals. Uh, if you’re a Thunder fan, you know, tell me how you’re feeling down below in the comments. What does this mean to you? Shout out to all the Thunder legends who got the Thunder up until this point. Uh, Poku, Tail Maladon, Hammedial, Deontay Burton, Jaylen Horde, Moses Brown, George Kalazikis, Xavier Simpson, a lot of other names I can mention. Darius Miller, shout out to the Thunder legend there. Um, I I could keep going down the list. Oh, Horford, George Hill. It’s the George Hill bowl potentially in the NBA Finals or, you know, maybe more Paul George if it’s the Bers, but I mean, George Hill, let’s just go that route. Um, but yeah, for the moment, I think that’s all I’ve got for y’all. Shout out to this team. Very, very deserved. They’ve been the best team all season, and I think they’re going to continue to be the best team all the way through to win the NBA Finals. But for the moment, I appreciate watching. Leave a like and subscribe if you enjoyed it. Hit the notification bell so you don’t miss out on future videos. Defender of the NBA Finals. Maybe I’ll just say it a couple more times before we finish the video. Thunder in the NBA Finals. Thunder in the NBA Finals. I’ll stop there. Um, appreciate y’all. Um, again, job’s not finished. Job’s not finished. But, uh, feeling fantastic. Again, a very emotional. It’s just cool to see. As you can tell, I’m very invested in this team. I consider myself the biggest Thunder fan in the world and I I hope that passion shines through in this video and all throughout um these these videos, you know, all my coverage throughout the years. It’s been a journey and I hope hope it ends in a Thunder Championship. Four more wins, about a week off of rest. We’ll see how the rest of this Eastern Conference finals goes. But for the moment, again, I appreciate you watching. Leave a like and subscribe if you enjoyed. Hit the notification bell so you don’t miss out on future videos. I’ll see you all later. Real Wednesday back, but most importantly, thunder up.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the 2025 NBA Finals after beating Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle, and Rudy Gobert in game five. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wins Western Conference Finals MVP as he continues to establish himself as one of the best guards ever, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren continue to prove everybody wrong, and this defense with guys like Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, Lu Dort, and Isaiah Hartenstein is all time. They are four wins from an NBA title and are set up to potentially become a dynasty in the midst of this parity era. Let’s talk about it.

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0:00 – The Thunder are finally back in the Finals
1:49 – Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren stepped up
3:20 – Shai is one of the best ever
3:52 – I can’t believe people doubted this team
4:39 – Everybody contributed to this
5:56 – Sam Presti is one of the best ever
7:07 – There were so many bad narratives
8:31 – The Timberwolves have a lot of questions
10:09 – The Thunder are really back in the Finals
11:36 – Outro