Like a walking computer, Sam Presti spat out several stats. The Oklahoma City Thunder are fresh off a 2025 NBA championship. That meant everybody was riding the high of a decades-long accomplishment. You hear about this possibility in the immediate aftermath of every champion, but surely a repeat is on the table?
Considering the Thunder are the second-youngest NBA champion in league history, they’re best set up to go back-to-back. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren will be back and better next season. The rest of the roster is under contract. That’s a rare feat for a title winner.
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Well, Presti wanted to pump the brakes. Refusing to let one championship run define his GM tenure, he let out some cold, hard facts about the odds the Thunder are stacked against for another June parade next year.
“We have to keep going. We have to keep pressing on, and the odds are clearly stacked against us being here again next year because I think it’s been well-documented at this point,” Presti said. “The last 10 teams that have won the championship, I think only one of them have repeated; 60 percent of them have failed to get past the second round, so that’s more than half of those.”
The last time the NBA saw back-to-back champions was the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors. Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant only lasted three seasons as an all-time duo, but they were unstoppable together. Throughout the year, the Thunder’s dominance was compared to those Warriors’ squads. Let’s see if they can repeat their success now that they have the biggest target on their back.
Presti listed out several theories as to why you rarely see repeated champions. From playing deep into the summer to outside influences that might contaminate a player’s mindset now that they sport a ring.
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“The reasons for that and why that’s so hard, I mean, none of us will really ever know. Sometimes it could be just randomness. Sometimes it could be hubris. Sometimes it could just be fatigue,” Presti said. “Then we all know that the silent forces that we’ve talked about here for almost 10 years, they’re knocking on your door every single day, and they knock a hell of a lot harder once you have success.”
Time will tell if Presti’s concerns are warranted. Or if this is some sort of reverse jinx. Probably both. Regardless if they win another championship, the Thunder are set up to be in those conversations for the foreseeable future.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Sam Presti on repeat chances: ‘Odds are clearly stacked against us’