FIRST THINGS FIRST | Nick Wright SHOCKED, OKC Thunder Are DESTROYING EVERYBODY | NBA

FIRST THINGS FIRST | Nick Wright SHOCKED, OKC Thunder Are DESTROYING EVERYBODY | NBA

What did you learn from last night’s game? Well, it’s funny. Last year, both of us thought if the Lakers could get to OKC in the playoffs, that’s a great matchup for the Lakers. Uh maybe it would have been last year. Who knows? But it’s not now. It’s not like I think OKC has gained confidence, swagger, their depth is ridiculous because they won that championship. And they are just like the Lakers. And they blew out the Warriors, too. I think those two teams, the Lakers and Warriors, they’re too old to like when you have a young o uber athletic team that is smart, which OKC is, and plays smart basketball. They’re physical as well. That’s just too much, I think, for the Lakers. Even when LeBron gets back, I just think they won’t be a good matchup. The the Thunder did not have Jaylen Williams, their second best player, or Lou Dort, and they still had about six wonderful defenders out there. They are too aggressive and and strong, physical, quick, and athletic for a team like cuz the Lakers aren’t an athletic team, particularly without LeBron. But that’s just not a good matchup for them. So, I I just don’t I think the Lakers will be a good They are a good team. They will be a good team. They’re going to be a fairly high playoff seed in the West, but they can’t match up with the Thunder. And the Thunder Nick, they are just I mean, they are running through the league. Shay Gil Alexander’s averaging 32 points. He’s not even playing a lot in the fourth quarter. No. Like a lot of these games he’s sitting out almost the whole fourth quarter. So they’re And we said the depth, it’s just incredible what they’re doing. And I confession, I didn’t expect the Lakers to win. Mhm. So, I’m kind of glad they got blown out because maybe we can put a at least a little bit of rest to what Wilds was flirting with. And other pe you were flirting with it and other people were outright not just sliding a drink across the bar, but writing their room number on a napkin and asking the bartender handed to them. the take of h maybe the Lakers might just be better off without LeBron. They’re rolling so well. I had to argue with Colin about it. I talked I I argued you off of it midsegment. Yes. Yes. I didn’t even say and No, but you were you were flirting with it. Um, and so obviously just like the as good as the Thunder are, they’ll be better when they add their second best player coming off an AllNBA season. The Lakers when they add their second best player coming off an AllNBA season will also be better. Doesn’t matter. OKC is better. Tell me one thing that OKC doesn’t do great. They are the champions for a reason. And it’s not a matter of like, oh, they have more confidence now. They had that last season. Yeah, they definitely know how to play winning basketball. And I talk about this so much in basketball that it’s not just about skill set and what you can do, how big, fast, tough, you got to know how to play in the biggest moments that these games really do get reduced down to very much similarly to football where it’s like possession, possession, possession, and you need to know what to do. And that’s why having vets are incredibly important. football, you can dial up a play, get someone open, open open up a a hole in with, you know, in the run game or something like basketball, that’s not it. You need everyone to be on the same page and truly understand, I got the ball in my hands. What What do I got to do right now with it? Football, you got the ball in your hands, run. Okay, run. Get into the end zone right now. OKC is great. The Thunder are great. They’re elite. This is not about the Lakers. This is not about LeBron. This is about OKC. This whole idea that, oh, I think OKC matches well up against Lakers. No, they do not. OKC will, especially if it goes six, seven games, LeBron can’t keep up with that anymore. Yes, a prime LeBron, a 28-year-old LeBron. Sure, we can have a completely different discussion about that. That’s not the case. OKC can just go on for days and days and days and days and days which turns into weeks and months and years. That is who OKC is right now. They are the smartest team. They are the best coach team right now. They execute at the highest level. They got the players. They got the depth. They got the superstars. They got the role players. I mean, like, what? That’s what I’m trying to say. What don’t they have? What can’t they do? What do they struggle with? What is the concern? What is the Achilles heel? What is the weakness that you’re like, “Ah, this is going to come back and get them. Where, what, how, when, why?” Yeah, but do they really match up against Luca? Well, do they really match up against Jokic? Yeah, but what about the East like? They don’t want to see the Knicks. I don’t know. The Six. I don’t know. My Who? Who? And listen, the the Pacers actually matched up pretty well because there were a ton of similarities and that that was an awesome series. I loved it. That was great. Like they don’t even have to worry about that this year. Like I would have loved a rematch, especially with obviously like a healthy um Tyrese, but that’s not the story here right now. So there’s no downplaying what OKC is doing. there should just be sitting back and admiring the greatness. You know, we talked about every time a team wins, this is actually really hilarious because this has happened every single year. When Giannis won, and I remember Bruce said this, and when um Joic won, uh Collins said it, and when the Kings were competing with the Warriors, and it felt like the Warriors were going to lose. Spoiler alert, the Kings ended up losing and the Warriors won. It was like this team is about to go on a run. I remember they were talking about Giannis and they were like, he’s entering his LeBron era now where he hadn’t been winning before. Now he won. You’re expecting him to rip off two, three. Didn’t happen. Jokic didn’t happen. The Kings, they never became anything. The Rockets never happened. The Knicks never happened. The Nets never happened. The Suns never happened. OKC. Oh, it did happen. And now outside of any type of like devastating injury, which unfortunately is always on the table, unfortunately, it’s like this is the team that you could expect. Okay, this is the team that’s actually going going to go on like a legitimate run, a legitimate, you know, I’m not going to start saying dynasty and all that stuff because that talk doesn’t really matter much to me honestly, but like a team where you know, okay, this is the team to beat year after year after year. This is the team. Yeah, you’d be crazy to pick against them. Supposed to be Minnesota. Never happened. This team is too great, too well coached, led by a superstar. When I say led, I actually mean like truly led, not just, well, he’s the best player and he’s great. Like, this this team is cohesive. They’re organized. Everyone understands their role. Everyone. And that’s what made the Warriors so great. Everyone understood their role. It’s what the Nuggets struggled with. Not everyone understood their role. They did not. the Warriors, why they were a true dynasty, why they were able to win and dominate for years. Even when they had KD, Clay, and Steph, everyone understood their role. And when they didn’t have KD, they understood their role. And when Jordan P didn’t understand his role, he got the boot. Why Kaminga struggles, he doesn’t understand his role. Everyone understands their role in OKC. And that’s why it’s so beautiful to watch poetry in motion. And that’s what made the the Pacers so great. Everyone understood their role. It’s what happened with the Knicks and why they struggled. Everyone did not understand their role. Basketball is both simple and more complicated than people understand. You have to understand your role. You have to understand where you fit within the offense, where you need. It’s why Drew Holiday is you insert them onto a team. With the Boston Celtics, everyone understood their role. You can’t really see a team that wins without them really understanding their where everyone understands their roles, especially from a longevity. You can get hot, you can get great. You can have a couple superstars that are just really great and are able to like get the job done, but if you don’t continue to have everyone understand where they’re at, where they need to be, what their individual role is, what their place is on this team, you struggle. Absolutely. Positively struggle. How many times do you watch another team play where you’re like, why is he taking that shot? Why are you not passing? Why did you pass there? What are you doing? I don’t think you ever watch OKC and think, “What is that? Why the You’re just like, “Oh, yeah, perfect.” That’s what OKC has over every other team right now. But those are just my thoughts. I’d absolutely love to hear yours. What do you guys all think about the Oklahoma City Thunder? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. I read every single comment. So, whether you agree with me or disagree with me, either way, let’s get into some discussions. Let’s get into some fights. But ultimately, let’s just have some fun. Please do consider subscribing. We are building an amazing community here and I absolutely love to see you part of it. I want to build something that we all generally feel connected to, something that we’re really excited to be part of. I think we’re well on our way to doing it. Please don’t forget to give this video a thumbs up as it really does help with the visibility and the algorithm. Thank you so much. See you next time.

FIRST THINGS FIRST | Nick Wright SHOCKED, OKC Thunder Are DESTROYING EVERYBODY | NBA
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