Can this Oklahoma City Thunder team become the best in NBA history? The Wall Street Journal thinks so.

Basketball reporter Robert O’Connell wrote this week, after highlighting the stats of Steve Kerr’s 2016 Golden State Warriors and the 1996 Chicago Bulls: “The Thunder are actually better.”

In 1996, Michael Jordan and the Bulls had the NBA’s No. 1 defense and offense, achieving a +13.4 net rating. Stephen Curry and the 2016 Warriors had the best offense, but the third-best defense, claiming a +10.7 net rating.

The 2025-26 Thunder surpassed a +16.0 rating, statistically becoming the best of all time. The 1996 Bulls are in second place, and in third? The 2024-2025 Thunder with a +12.8 value.

The Wall Street Journal piece was published before the Thunder’s 111-109 loss to Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Cup semifinals, but the statistics remain unchanged. According to the NBA, the Thunder’s current net rating is 16.4, over six points ahead of the runners-up, the Houston Rockets.

The Thunder also leads in defensive ratings at 103.4. Six out of 10 in the individual net ratings are Thunder players: Shai Gilgeous Alexander on top at 20.5, followed by Chet Holmgren with 20.4. Cason Wallace, Jaylin Williams, Ajay Mitchell and Isaiah Hartenstein also feature on the list.

Williams, Mitchell, Holmgren, Wallace and Hartenstein are the top five in the defensive list for the 2025-26 season.

“They have great defense, great depth, great coaching,” Kerr said, per the WSJ article. “They’ve got Shai. They have everything we had in ‘16.”

O’Connell also mentioned that in the years the Bulls and the Warriors set their records, the powerful duos of Jordan/Scottie Pippen and Curry/Klay Thompson played together nearly every game. The Thunder has dealt with injuries all season.

Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams are the only two All-Stars in the team, and Williams missed the first 19 games of the season due to injury. Without him, the Thunder won 18 games by an average of 16.5 points. Since his return, the team’s only lost to the Spurs. Other team leaders like Hartenstein and Holmgren also missed their share of games due to injuries.

In its two losses of the season, OKC hasn’t lost by more than two points.

With the NBA Cup out of the way, all focus is on Thursday’s home game against the Los Angeles Clippers (6-20). Mark Daigneault’s team could still set another record this season: most wins in a single season. The current record, per the Guinness World Record book, is Golden State in 2025-16 with a 73-9 season.

Only the Warriors and the Bulls have won more than 70 games in a season. But the Thunder could be next.