Arguing semantics, it only took a couple of months before one brave soul tried to say the Oklahoma City Thunder aren’t technically the world champions.
The Thunder had one of the greatest seasons in league history last year. A 68-14 regular-season record paired with an NBA championship put the 2024-25 squad in the same company as Michael Jordan’s Bulls and Stephen Curry’s Warriors.
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The Thunder were the clear-best team in the league last season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander collected NBA trophies like they were Infinity Stones, from MVP to NBA Finals MVP. They had the all-time point differential record of plus-12.9. Meaning they blew teams out left and right.
When you’re the best team in the best league, that makes you the undisputable champion. The official designation, though, seems to bother some folks — especially those who aren’t part of the NBA. EuroLeague head coach Ergin Ataman recently went on a rant that went viral about the official designation of the Thunder.
Ataman argued that the Thunder should stick with being called the NBA champion, not the world champion. It’s a nauseous argument that has been parroted for years now from international players and coaches. They claim that calling yourself the world champion despite not playing other teams across the globe is incorrect.
“If you want to be world champion, you must beat the EuroLeague champion,” Ataman said. “Maybe you must beat the Australian champion as well.”
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Never mind the fact that the Thunder and the rest of the NBA are the top teams in the world. Yes, even better than the EuroLeague. There’s a reason why all their top stars eventually make the jump to the NBA. I think we all know how those hypothetical exhibitions would play out.
It’s a silly argument to make that boils down to technicalities. But if it were up to Alex Caruso, he said he’s down to lace his sneakers and prove it on the court, too. The two-time NBA champion posted on social media that he’s willing to face Ataman and other league’s best players.
“lol let’s play the games then,” Caruso wrote when he saw Ataman’s quote on social media.
That’s really the best way to shut up the doubters. And considering how experimental Adam Silver has been since he took over as an NBA Commissioner, maybe it’s within the realm of possibility. An exhibition where NBA teams face EuroLeague and NBL teams would surely be a lot of fun and garner interest from global basketball fans.
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Even if it’s a one-time experiment, it can finally put to rest this trivial debate brought up every offseason. The talent gap between the NBA and the rest of the world is wide.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Alex Caruso willing to play non-NBA teams to earn world championship