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The Oklahoma City Thunder are the defending NBA champions. They also have the fifth-youngest roster in the NBA.
That combination can spell doom for the immature. Even veteran title teams succumb to what Pat Riley termed “the disease of me” — players start thinking about themselves, their touches, their points, and how much money they make or should make. The unselfish ethos that won a team a ring starts to fade. So does the chance at another.
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Oklahoma City does not give off that vibe as it gears up to defend its title, starting Sunday.
“I think that’s what makes us so good, is that we have so many unselfish guys,” Jaylin Williams told NBC Sports. “Nobody is like, when you know a guy’s out, nobody’s stepping in thinking, ‘Oh, I’m gonna get 25 shots tonight because somebody’s out.’ You’re thinking, ‘Oh, I’m gonna go in there and do whatever the team needs me to do to get the win’…
“Everybody’s just going out there and playing the game that we’re supposed to play. I think when you have a team that’s so unselfish like that, it makes you an even better team.”
Don’t talk repeat
Coach Mark Daigneault has worked to install a “focus on the little things and the big things will come” ethos, something that every coach preaches. Think day-to-day. Build good habits now, and it’s something the team can and will fall back on in the playoffs.
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What’s different is that the Thunder players — from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on down — have fully bought in. With that, repeating as NBA champions is not a topic in the OKC locker room. It doesn’t really come up.
“We try not to take it like that,” Lu Dort told NBC Sports about the quest to win back-to-back rings. “I mean, obviously, just from the facts and the truth, we are the reigning champs, but we try to go in there and not even think about that. We still got to beat every team that we go against four times to advance.”
“I wouldn’t look at it as like us trying to be the defending champs going in these nights, like we’re going to these games, just as hungry to win, just like we were last season,” Williams added.
Discussions of “process” and “building good…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/first-lesson-oklahoma-city-repeat-200048219.html
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Publish date : 2026-04-17 20:00:00
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