Over the last two decades, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat have been near the top of the NBA standings. From LeBron James to Kevin Durant to Jimmy Butler to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. You’ve seen several iterations have wild success in their respective environments.

That’s why it shouldn’t be a shocker to learn the Thunder and Heat have mutual respect for the cultures they’ve created. While some NBA franchises rely on the glitz and glamor of their cities to artificially build up winners by attracting top stars, they’ve done so through the developmental route.

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Before the Thunder came up short in a 122-120 loss to the Heat, Erik Spoelstra glowingly endorsed what OKC has built up over the decades. The longest-tenured NBA head coach has seen his fairshare of contenders. He’s called plays from the sidelines since 2008.

“The biggest compliment you can give to them and the thing that stuns me is how they can have that kind of success with a young roster,” Spoelstra said. “Usually, there’s an agenda with young players.”

The Thunder became the second-youngest NBA champion in league history last year. Gilgeous-Alexander headlines the group, but ascending All-Star players like Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams give OKC one of the longest runways for a title window.

While Gilgeous-Alexander’s improbable rise to an MVP is the biggest reason for that, how OKC has built up a championship roster around him is equally important. Spoelstra went out of his way to credit Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault for transitioning from a rebuild to a contender coach. You rarely see that nowadays. Usually, it’s one or the other.

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“I think Mark has done a great job at building a culture of winning and doing the right things. The consistency has to be all across the board,” Spoelstra said. “From the front office to coaching staff to players. They definitely have all that. They put the bar up here and we’re all chasing it.”

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Erik Spoelstra credits OKC’s culture for success: ‘They put the bar up here’