The Oklahoma City Thunder are a wrecking ball in the NBA so far this season, having tied the best start to a season in NBA history at 24-1.
While the start may be incredible, it’ll eventually catch up to the Thunder, and they’ll probably start losing at a more frequent pace as the grind of a marathon season weighs on them.
In time, the Thunder will slow down, and they’ll look mortal just like every other team in the league.
Or will they?
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The Oklahoma City Thunder May Be The Perfect Basketball Team
Once upon a time, not long ago, the conversation about “perfect” basketball teams was a hot one.
We’ve all had the conversation; we’ve all built super teams in our own minds or on 2K to see if that team is truly a “perfect” basketball team and to see if they could go 82-0 or close to it.
But the idea of a perfect basketball team was nothing more than just an idea. Forever, it’s been something that is quite literally impossible because basketball is such a complex game with too many factors and moving parts.
But the 2025 Oklahoma City Thunder have seemingly made the possibility of their being a “perfect” basketball team a reality right before our eyes.
For the first time ever, we are watching something so remarkable that it has fans questioning everything they swore they knew about the sport.
And it has everyone starting to believe that they could legitimately do what was once impossible, without it being crazy: winning 80 games in the regular season.
The Oklahoma City Thunder Will Be The NBA’s First 80-Win Team
The Thunder are already at 24 wins this season through 25 games. They have 57 games remaining on the schedule, meaning they would have to go 56-1 to meet that 80-win mark.
Now how is it possible that we can sit here and act like winning 80 games in a season and winning 56 of your next 57 is not insane?
Because the Thunder are truly breaking basketball as we know it.
The entire roster is built on a foundation of elite two-way players who are nearly perfect on both sides of the ball.
Basketball is a game played on two sides, offense and defense, and most of the time, teams are not going to be elite in both departments, which is why they cannot compete with the very best and win championships.
But for Oklahoma City, they have gone beyond just being elite on both offense and defense.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Is Having The Greatest Scoring Peak Of All Time
The offense is spearheaded by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is in the middle of possibly the greatest scoring peak that the NBA has ever seen.
Shai is averaging 32.6 points per game on a true shooting percentage of 69.1%, which is on pace to be the best true shooting percentage by a player who has averaged over 30 points per game in NBA history.
And the kicker is that he’s doing most of his work in just three quarters, because the Thunder are routinely blowing teams out so badly that they pull him after three quarters to rest him for the fourth quarter, which is something they have done 14 times this season.
And when looking at the rest of the offensive system and personnel, the Thunder have players out there doing everything the right way. They are a selfless group that always makes the right decisions, and it allows them to be the team with the third-best true shooting percentage in the league at 62.1%.
They have seven different players averaging double-digit points per game, including Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, who are averaging over 15 per game, and two players averaging at least six assists per game, which doesn’t happen too often.
But for as great as the offense is, this is a defensive team first and foremost.
The Defense Is Taking The Life Out Of Teams
They say that basketball is a game of runs, and in today’s NBA, a 15-point lead can evaporate within two minutes.
Big-time point swings happen in every NBA game now, but they don’t happen when you’re playing the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Thunder this season have gotten out in front early, and they will go on multiple runs themselves to extend the lead, but the other team cannot put together a run to close that gap.
Runs have been the great equalizer for many teams, but that just hasn’t been a factor for Oklahoma City to worry about this season, because when the defense flips the switch and makes the decision that you aren’t scoring anymore, every single possession feels like you’re being guarded in Game 7 of the NBA Finals with the score tied and the clock ticking down in the final seconds.
Whether it’s Lu Dort, Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, or literally the last man on their bench, there is no weak link on this team when it comes to the defensive side of the ball.
Lu Dort and Alex Caruso are brick walls that you can’t get around, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Cason Wallace have the twitchiest hands on the team, forcing mistakes and getting steals at a high rate, and Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein make the paint a no-fly zone any time that you think you’ll be able to get something to go in there.
It’s a suffocating system that makes opposing teams feel helpless, and they wear you down until you have nothing left, and by that point, they’re usually up by enough to be able to rest everyone for the remainder of the game anyway, but then the reserves do the same thing, making it a never-ending cycle.
The Thunder Have Built A Team Capable Of The Impossible
The Thunder are doing something incredible right now, and the further along the season goes, this could end up becoming a team that does what we once thought was impossible.
The win record is starting to feel like less of a possibility and more of a guarantee at this point, but the Thunder could be the team to break the 80-win mark that is virtually seen as an impossible feat in the NBA, especially in today’s game.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are a perfect basketball team through and through. Every player is selfless and does their job at the highest level on both ends of the floor.
They win in the margins, and they do the things that basically no other team can do.
56 of the next 57 is all that it takes. That may sound crazy for any other team in history, but after watching this Thunder team for 25 games this season, they are the one team that makes the impossible seem almost inevitable.