If you can’t decide which NBA team is the best— the Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics, or Cleveland Cavaliers—rest assured that it’s okay, and you’re allowed to think about this one. While the Cavs and Thunder hold the better records, many still believe the Celtics to be the best overall team. Others believe that it is Cleveland’s year. Others cannot bring themselves to disrespect OKC (NBA senior writer Brian Windhorst), which is a respectable position to hold. When it comes to the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the face that comes to mind. However, despite their dominance this season, do they have a crack in their armor? ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith might see a crack.
Could the Thunder Have A Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Problem?
Stephen A. Smith Believes the OKC Thunder Might Have A Crack In Their Armour Involving Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
The Thunder lack star power outside of SGA, according to what Stephen A. is essentially getting at when he said what he said about OKC’s playoff chances. The Thunder hold the league’s best defensive rating. They are menaces on the court and chase the basketball relentlessly. On top of that, they’re a top-five offensive team (4th in points per game, averaging 118.6). When they win— they have 47 of them—they win big, usually by double digits. As for SGA, he’s having an MVP-esque season, and the chances he will earn his first are high. However, Nikola Jokić might have a thing or two to say about that.
The problem in OKC, though, as Stephen A. sees it, is what the Thunder would do in the playoffs if SGA were compromised. SGA is the clear first option, while Jalen Williams is considered the second. However, one could argue Chet Holmgren is. Williams is hardly no scrub, and Holmgren hasn’t even reached greatness inside of him yet, and he’s still a significant threat in the paint. But it’s OKC’s surrounding cast that Smith questions, and he questioned as such on his show First Take this week [5:20 mark] with Tim Legler and Shannon Sharpe.
“When you get the ball out of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s hands, is there somebody, regardless of the enormous amount of talent they have on that squad, is there somebody you trust that will step up when it counts to deliver the goods?” Stephen A. continued by responding to Legler’s take, “Is it possible that you’re questioning that about OKC now, knowing Luka [Doncic] and LeBron [James], [Nikola] Jokic, and others are going to be in the postseason waiting to go up against them? Is it possible that OKC has diminished your level of confidence in them?”
Don’t Count Out “The Others”
Shaquille O’Neal loves to point to “the others” on a basketball team and give them their flowers for stepping up around the team’s stars or superstars. The Thunder may not have another superstar other than Shai (Holmgren is on the trajectory), but his “others” are some of the best in the league. Williams especially is showing why he’s one of the NBA’s top-tier “others.” Coming off his first All-Star appearance, Williams is having a career year, and his growth has moved rapidly over the past two seasons.
Suppose the worst were to happen, and Shai got injured, as Stephen A. suggested. Is Williams good enough to win games for OKC? That’s a tough question to answer. Hopefully, for the Thunder’s sake, that scenario will never become a reality. Even if it’s a double-team situation, is Stephen A. insinuating that the rest of the Thunder aren’t good enough to pick up the slack and at least make things competitive? A compromised SGA would mean his team would struggle, sure. But they have enough firepower and offensive threats to battle it out. And, of course, they could win a playoff game or two backed by their suffocating defense. Stephen A. Smith might want to rethink this one.
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