As the Oklahoma City Thunder prepared for their must-watch pregame ceremony, the Houston Rockets filed out to the visitors’ tunnel. Ime Udoka announced their intentions pregame that they wanted to play spoiler for the once-in-a-lifetime festivities.

Except for a couple of guys who stayed back — Steven Adams and Jeff Green.

Several generations of Thunder players were at Paycom Center to see the reigning NBA champion beat the Houston Rockets in a 125-125 2OT win. From the late 2000s to the 2010s to the 2020s.

Of course, Kevin Durant was the headliner as NBA schedule-makers leaned into their rivalry. You couldn’t have written a better story than that. So kudos to the league for instigating their beef. Adams and Green, though, are remembered more fondly.

Adams remains a fan favorite after he spent his first seven seasons in OKC. When he was announced among the starters, his loud cheers served as quite the juxtaposition to Durant’s deafening boos.

While Green wasn’t as beloved, he had a solid first four seasons with the Thunder. He’s remained in the NBA as a career journeyman. The 39-year-old is one of the oldest players in the league.

As the Thunder handed out their rings one by one, they were grouped at the end to see the championship banner raised. On the Rockets’ bench at the far left side of the court were Adams and Green. Both revealed why they decided to get out of the locker room early to get a front-row seat.

“It was a couple of things. This was good for the city and stuff like that. A lot of it too was that was my first time seeing a ceremony so I get to experience that,” Adams said. “I knew that’d just be more motivating to me. Just seeing it, you kinda want to be there in the environment. You want to earn that s–t.”

Adams has been on his fair share of contenders since he joined the NBA. On the Rockets, he provides great size and some of the best rebounding hands in the league. They’ll rely on him for their super-sized starting lineup throughout the season.

“Me and Steve just wanted to go out there and see it. I didn’t get a chance to go through mine a couple of years ago,” Green said. “Happy for the city, but me and Steve used it as motivation to see what we wanted. That’s about it.”

Green won a championship with the Denver Nuggets in 2023. He was a role player on that team. Afterward, he signed a deal with the Rockets that offseason. That meant he wasn’t in Denver when it did its pregame ceremony.

Thunder fans absolutely loved that Adams and Green saw the celebration. Compared to Durant’s absence, it added fuel to the decade-long fire between both sides. Ring Night couldn’t have gone any better for OKC. It was everything you could’ve dreamed of when they first brought home the Larry O’Brien trophy.

Both former Thunder players said they used this moment as motivation

“That was the 1st time experiencing a ceremony…I knew that it’d just be more motivating to me…seeing it you kinda wanna be there. Be a part of it so you wanna earn that sh*t”

– Steven Adams & Jeff Green… https://t.co/d97ohJvf6e pic.twitter.com/aNfI7wwAr0

— The Daniel Bell© (@BasketballGuruD) October 22, 2025