Jan. 16, 2026, 10:00 a.m. CT
Destroying teams left and right, the Oklahoma City Thunder have reached teflon status in the NBA. A possible dynastic ruling is threatening the league’s competitive meritocracy. The reigning NBA champions could go back-to-back if everything goes right for them.
That type of rare basketball domination has caused 29 other fanbases to go through the seven stages of grief. Right now, most are in the anger phase. Anytime you go on social media, you can expect folks to cry conspiracy that OKC’s league-best defense gets away with fouling on every other possession.
Why? Who knows. Anytime you ask that simple follow-up question, people get stumped. Almost as if that line of thinking boils down to believing the NBA is in some grand conspiracy to help the small-market franchise collect plenty of wins.
But just because a bunch of Twitter users have drank the Kool-Aid, that doesn’t mean people within the league have. Ask Kevin Durant. The Oklahoma City Thunder pulled away late in their 111-91 win over the Houston Rockets.
The Thunder have returned to their bread and butter of getting plenty of stops. Durant struggled with 19 points on 7-of-23 shooting. The superb-efficient 25-point scorer has made an all-time career of getting difficult buckets. He wasn’t able to do that against his former squad.
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Given the chance to bash OKC’s defense, Durant went the opposite way. The future Hall-of-Famer spoke highly of what the Thunder have built in their recent iteration of the franchise. Of course, he was part of their first title contender in the 2010s, but ultimately fell short of winning a Larry O’Brien trophy.
“They play with physicality for sure, but that’s what championship organizations do. I don’t think they toethe line or anything,” Durant said. “I just think they just play swarming basketball; they all rush to the ball. They play physical off the ball. They got great hands. They got a good shot-blocking center. I don’t think they do too much, anything extra. I just think they play together and know how to swarm the basketball.”
That’s quite the compliment from Durant. And something that contradicts what a lot of fans believe. Wonder whose insights matter more in that regard?
Regardless, say what you want about Durant’s social media antics and how he’s handled his OKC departure, there’s no denying his everlasting love for basketball. What the Thunder have done on the defensive side of the floor over the last few seasons is one-of-one. You’re seeing one of the greatest defenses the NBA has ever seen.
Nice to know someone as accomplished as Durant can see that.