Many doubted that the Oklahoma City Thunder could go all the way to win an NBA championship because they were young and inexperienced. Their critics said they lacked the veteran presence needed to go through a tough and deep playoff run. However, the Thunder not only proved their doubters wrong but also demonstrated that the adage is just a myth.
In a SLAM feature story, forward Jalen Williams talked about how the Thunder went against the grain and won the 2025 NBA championship despite having the youngest opening day roster in the NBA during the 2024-25 season.
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“I don’t think you need a bunch of veterans to be successful. They’re definitely useful. But I learned how to be a professional before I even signed paperwork to be on the Thunder,” Williams said.
The youngest team in the NBA last season
Looking back, the Thunder had an average age of 24.148 years on opening night. For starters, Williams is only 24 years old — 23 last season, but speaks wiser than his years. J-Dub is the second-best player on the team, right behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is only 27 years old today, and just 26 when they won it all.
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The Thunder had seven players who averaged double-digit scoring last season. All seven were aged 26 or younger during the campaign. The oldest players on their 2025 playoff roster were Alex Caruso and Kenrich Williams, who were both 30 years old. After the two, everyone else was 26 or younger, with half of their 14-man postseason crew 23 or younger.
“You go in there, and every single basketball on the ball rack is facing the exact same way. We tuck our shirts in for practice. We’re not wearing jewelry for practice. That stuff was ingrained in me since I’ve been in the organization. So we haven’t had to have vets teach us how to do things. We matured faster, because that’s the environment that we’ve been in,” he added.
The Thunder were eliminated in the second round as the No.1 seed in 2024
In the 2024 Playoffs, the Thunder became the youngest team in league history to win a playoff series. Yet despite being the No.1 seed, their youth and inexperience proved costly, as they were eliminated in the second round.
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However, instead of changing their strategy, GM Sam Presti and head coach Mark Daigneault continued to go against the grain and trust their young team. After winning 57 games in 2023-24, they won a franchise record 68 last season. Even then, there were still many doubters, like former NBA forward-turned-ESPN analyst Marcus Morris.
“I got them (Lakers) coming out of the West…I wouldn’t even say OKC was next. I would say the Clippers, I would go as far as to say the Warriors over OKC. What has OKC done outside of the regular season?” said Marcus. “The experience, their average age in OKC is 24 years old. Who’s been to that mountain top? Who’s been through adversity on OKC?”
Neither the Los Angeles Lakers nor the Golden State Warriors made it past the second round, while the Thunder went all the way to claim the Larry O’Brien trophy. And speaking of adversity, the only one who faced that later was Marcus himself, who was arrested for non-payment of gambling debts. Meanwhile, OKC’s gamble not to add too many vets to their team paid off handsomely — now they are world champions.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 19, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.