When you dominate the rest of your peers, juvenile criticisms come with the territory. The Oklahoma City Thunder have learned that firsthand over the last two seasons as they hope to go back-to-back.

After one of the greatest seasons ever with a 68-14 regular-season record and an NBA championship, the Thunder have one-upped themselves. They’re setting all types of records through their 25-2 start. The 70-win talks have only grown louder with each blowout victory.

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And with that comes the rest of the league circling the Thunder like vultures. Each loss will be magnified and have the feel of a playoff loss. You saw that happen when they were on the wrong side of an upset in the 2025 NBA Cup semifinals.

Folks drummed up viral clips on social media to conspire that the Thunder get away with fouls on defense and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is constantly rewarded with soft calls. They were ready to crown the San Antonio Spurs as OKC’s Kryptonite.

Scrolling through social media, Alex Caruso had enough. He replied to a social media user and suggested the people making those complaints don’t know a lick about basketball. The two-time NBA champion has played with the same defensive playstyle his whole career. Only recently has it become a problem.

“When you win a bunch of games and you’re the current champions, there’s always something… This organization does a good job at bringing the right people,” Caruso said. “… When those things happen, people don’t have the usual things to fall back on with this guy’s an a–h— or he treats people the wrong way or he’s trying to score points and get stats.”

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Feels like there’s some truth to that. Alas, it’s just something the Thunder will have to deal with as long as they sit atop the NBA throne. Every other top team has had to deal with the problems. The only problem is how much more visible it is nowadays, thanks to social media amplifying everybody’s voices like a town hall meeting.

“This is the new era of chatter online. They find something to talk about with our team. I just got bored one day and I saw it,” Caruso said. “… Probably shouldn’t have, but for them it’s their Super Bowl getting to interact with somebody.”

All the Thunder can do is continue to conduct their business. NBA accolades matter more than appeasing the average fan. Ask any other fanbase if they’d love to switch spots with OKC, and they’d say yes in a heartbeat.

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Alex Caruso downplays OKC social media criticisms as ‘online chatter’