Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. The Oklahoma City Thunder have experienced that firsthand. The NBA is known as a copycat league. Whatever trends the latest NBA champion did is seen as the blueprint for other teams across the sport.
And apparently, that doesn’t stop at the NBA level. It also bleeds over to the collegiate level.
As the Thunder continue their NBA championship defense, the first part of their journey involved outside guests. Per usual, Mark Daigneault hosted several college coaches and their staff during training camp. Half an hour away, Oklahoma head coach Porter Moser took up the offer again.
What stood out to Moser? He recently talked about it as Oklahoma recently started its season 1-0 with a blowout win over Saint Francis.
“Just the culture,” Moser said. “From how they built the time, to going to their practice and watching how efficient and purposeful everything they do is. There’s a purpose for everything. You watch them play and they’re just so unselfish, you just look at them and you’re like ‘Man, they’re together.'”
The Thunder have become the NBA’s top team. They accelerated from a rebuild to an NBA champion within three seasons. Leaning on the defensive side of the ball, they dominated the league last season on their way to a Larry O’Brien trophy. While those heights might be too far for Moser to lead the Sooners, it’s at least a good baseline of competitiveness.
“It’s one thing when you’ve got elite culture, but defensively, they do some unbelievable things. The way they have each other’s back, the way they peel, the way they do different stuff. Offensively, the way they space,” Moser said. “We’re lucky to have those kinds of people. That whole organization is first class and we’ve really drawn on it as much as we can. Pulling for them every game, that’s how it should be run.”
Moser hopes he can build on his momentum as he enters his fifth season as Oklahoma’s head coach. He led the Sooners to a March Madness appearance before they lost to UConn in the Round of 64. The Sooners were led by eventual 2025 lottery pick Jeremiah Fears.
As the Thunder blew out the New Orleans Pelicans, Fears caught up with Moser in pregame warmups. Both the Sooners’ men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams were in attendance. Afterward, the 19-year-old chatted up with some of the college players.
“Just the culture….there’s a purpose for everything…they do some unbelievable things….that whole organization is first class.
– OU MBB coach Porter Moser talks about spending time with the Thunder during training camp and tips he can take from them pic.twitter.com/Epq8VSgkIi
— The Daniel Bell© (@BasketballGuruD) November 4, 2025