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The NBA has not seen a reigning champion take its title defense as far as the conference finals, let alone hoist a second consecutive Larry O’Brien trophy, since the Golden State Warriors were cut off at the ankle and calf by the Toronto Raptors in the 2019 Finals. That’s seven straight seasons in which parity has ruled supreme, for better or for worse, and dynastic runs seem fated to be a thing of the past.
Not if one team in America’s heartland has anything to say about it. The Oklahoma City Thunder embark on these 2026 playoffs in search of historic greatness, trends be damned. And less than two weeks before the first game of the postseason tips off, you’d be hard pressed to find substantive evidence to believe their goal won’t be achieved.
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Related: NBA playoff predictions 2026: the winner, key players and dark horses
Oklahoma City will be the No 1 seed in the bloodbath that is the NBA’s Western Conference for the third consecutive year this season. The last time a team has accomplished this particular feat, three straight years atop their conference? That aforementioned Warriors outfit (in 2017). And it’s rarefied air in NBA history in general: the only other teams to hold down the top spot that long, respectively, are the creme de la creme: the Celtics and Lakers’ top rosters in their storied histories, and the Jordan Bulls. Every team with this accomplishment finished with the ultimate accomplishment: an NBA championship.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, MVP frontrunner for the second consecutive year, also exists in rarefied air at the moment. He has the potential to receive both league MVP and NBA Finals MVP honors in consecutive years. If he does, he’d be the first to do it since LeBron James in 2012 and 2013. A big part of Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP case – and why he’s heavily favored to win the award again this season – comes down to his hyperreliable efficiency, something of which even James himself has taken note. Of the Thunder star on the most recent episode of his Mind the Game podcast, James said: “That’s one of the things I love about Shai – for him to play on…
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Publish date : 2026-04-19 10:00:00
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