Looking back at what the Oklahoma City Thunder accomplished last season, it doesn’t take long to find Golden State Warriors comparisons. The 2024-25 former team scarily mirrors the 2014-15 latter team.

Both teams dominated the NBA at a historic level. Both also saw their franchise player capture their first MVP and enter into all-time conversations with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Stephen Curry. An up-and-coming pair of co-stars also accompanied them with Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

The Thunder have the chance to do in the 2020s what the Warriors did in the 2010s. Cement themselves as an all-time team that won multiple championships. But first, baby steps. Let’s see if the reigning NBA champion can live up to their popularity as the overwhelming favorite to win back-to-back titles.

At his 2025-26 preseason press conference, Sam Presti actually namedropped the Warriors. He complimented their continuity and long-term success. It’s one thing when you have an obvious list of things you can improve on; it’s another when you’re sitting on the NBA’s throne.

“For us, one of those things will be if we hit a lull during the year, the ability to play through that, get the car back on the tracks, the train back on the tracks, through nothing more than persistence,” Presti said. “Like being able to understand where the issues are, plow through that.”

That could be the Thunder’s biggest boogeyman this season. Not another team, but themselves. After you win an NBA championship, the regular season feels small in comparison. How can they maintain their same level of ambition and not fall into a complacency hole?

“I really think the Warriors are an incredible example of this. They’re one of the most successful franchises in the last 10 years probably. But they play through lulls at different times, and they’re remarkable,” Presti said. “I have so much respect for them. They find a way to get themselves through tough patches and out to optimal levels.”

Presti always says that the sky falls on every NBA team a couple of times during the season. For the Thunder last year, that was Chet Holmgren’s hip fracture, along with juggling injuries to the rest of the roster. It’ll be interesting to see how the NBA champion responds to adversity. That could be the biggest indicator of their back-to-back hopes.