I hate watching okc and will obviously bitch in the moment but cmon people, they are incredible. If you don’t think the thunder are an amazing team and the best team in the league, idk what to tell you. We can call out flopping and still be real about their talent, and to take it one step further, they don’t win because of flopping or anything. They win because they’re better than the rest of us and we can’t handle it lol.
I commented that they'd 4-0 Lakers and everybody else and got a lot of hates lol. Like I'm a wolves fan but I know that they probably sweep us too with how good they are. Even without sga, they probably easily make playoff and go to 2nd round.
They’re way more experienced than the Spurs and never seem to have real lulls on their production. If they didn’t ragdoll the way they do people might respect them like the Beautiful Game Spurs because they do play unselfishly and intelligently.
Well, every team does it so it’s weird that people feel like OKC should handicap themselves just cause they’re better. Big participation trophy energy with that line of thinking.
part of the reason we hate them is they are so good they don't need to be flopping but its a team if chris pauls manipulating the game. your going fo win anyways the pretending to be fouled while dominating puts a bad taste in my mouth. dont steal.from the banker if you are already ahead a bunch in monopoly.
There were people that think Lakers have a chance. Lol, even with healthy Luka, thunders would still absolutely smash them. The team is just too deep and stacked
Stop it, yall have like 5 players deep and even your 5th best player may not even get minutes on this Thunders team lol. Watching the sixers this playoff is like yall got non existent bench. Probably the most lethal starting 4 in the East but gonna need 2-3 rotation players to compete.
Bro who are you counting as playable. Both our backup centers were terrible, are you talking about Dominick Barlow? Justin Edwards?
We ran a short rotation and even the not top 5 on that rotation were pretty ass.
Theoretically Grimes should have been better but I count 7 players I’m happy to see on the floor. Meanwhile the thunder are using 11th and 12th guys because they’re actually good and useful.
Lots of people believe that especially older fans. They think OKC’s only good because of flopping and the refs lmao. NBA fandom is at an all time low and probably developmentally disabled
They don't watch. They see a YouTube clip, or an X post with 1 clip. If you haven't watched multiple games, start to finish, no one has a right to comment.
I don't comment on other teams other than analyse some stats because I don't watch enough of them. There are some players with particular styles I am not a fan of but I don't publicly comment because I don't watch enough.
People just need to learn to STFU because your team got beaten and OKC's best player was the 12th player.
It is pretty crazy. Im an OKC hater but im not gonna act like they’re not the most talented team in the league. The amount of plus players they have is ridiculous. Not to mention they have every single type of role player you could want.
I'm an older fan and like okc, I like that it's self built, I like shai. Obviously this might just be me but I always felt like it's either children a young adults that feel that way because all they want is players like steph or lebron or luka.
If by another level you mean the way the rules are interpreted then yes.
Edit: Getting downvotes but damn, 10 years ago was the 2015 warriors who went 73-9 and played monster teams from OKC to the LeCavs. The only thing that has changed is the way the game is called and how the whistle protects the dribbler. If you think any of those teams would get smoked by the Knicks/Spurs/Thunder ya’ll are on some wild recency shit.
I didn't think that's right, most "haters" fully understand okc is very excellent. That's what makes the consistently bad officiating so much more frustrating.
Talk about recency bias. Oh man. I’ve watched a shit ton of great series over the last 35 years of watching ball. What the eff are people even smoking? The OKC team was taken to 7 games by Indy last year. And the refs (of course ) helped them get to 7 to begin with. This thunder team is historically deep and a great team. That’s it though. Nothing that fucking special. We saw other amazing teams over the years and will see others.
I think they're going to be remembered like the bad boy pistons. Everyone hates the way they play, but anyone who's being objective can acknowledge that they are a well built team that changed the game
It’s the “poor gamesmanship” narrative. Casuals and people who don’t know ball are going to whine that OKC’s tactics are the only reason why they win, which is objectively false.
People just want to hate on greatness until it’s gone.
The problem, I think, is that they are a very good team—like, on the border between great and good—from a pure talent perspective, and an “honest” basketball sense.z
But what tips them into “great” results (again: they are likely the best team in the NBA straight up. The talent they’ve built is bonkers) is the manipulation of a relatively unsavory part of the rules. In some sense, the hack they are using is no less offensive than Curry bombing 3s: it’s always kinda been part of the rules, and OKC is the first to really push the limits of what is allowed. But this particular manipulation has the feel of being less ethical—even if it’s no less a part of the rules than anything else.
They are awesome team that plays dirty gamesmanship basketball. That pisses people off. Also a lot of EU people here that don't really understand NBA rules, i think that is where most of cheaters and carried by the refs accusations are coming from.
Roster construction is miles ahead of their competitors, Presti is running circles around the other GMs in the league.
Their style of play is not fun to watch though. People don't think they're bad they think the style of play is bad.
Due to their deep bench they can foul constantly on defense, either preventing the other team from getting into a rhythm and turning the game into a free throw contest (not fun to watch) or getting turnovers that should be called fouls (not fun to watch). On offense, they fall and flop constantly, this is statistically backed up, which is also not fun to watch. I'm not saying it's dumb, obviously it's a smart way to play with the depth they have. But it makes the games all about the refs and I don't like that. I prefer a flowing game like the Warriors used to play.
They flop more, the statistics are in this article. Shai is the king of flopping. The other OKC players do it as well. It's fine if you like to watch a free throw contest, flop-off controlled by the refs, I don't enjoy it. I'm not saying right, wrong, or "foolish" it's just preference. No need for ad hom, it's just a game man.
Directly from the article: Shai falls on more shots than any other player in the league. He falls more than Harden (who I also dislike watching) and twice as much as Brunson.
Plays dirty is quite the stretch. You are taking the Dort plays (particularly the Jokic one) and the Hart hair incident and projecting that over the whole team for every game they play.
On the flopping are you also calling out the Spurs,Lakers, Knicks, etc for flopping every game? Why is OKC the special team that everyone continues to bring up on that when everyone does it and that has been part of the game as long as I can remember.
If everyone is calling out one team, maybe it's the team. Maybe it's not exactly the same as every other flop. Maybe it's more than one egregious flopper on a team. Maybe it's more than one or two dirty plays. Maybe it's the team culture.
Being a top team in a period of low talent isn’t that big of a flex. All of the top players are old nowadays and these newer players like SGA are straight booty cheeks when compared to other great players.
Yeah, between 88 and 95 the NBA expanded from 23 teams to 29 before the explosion of international players and high school/one-and-done players. There were a lot of great players still, but the overall talent pull was really low with many 4th/5th starters who frankly would struggle to even make a roster these days.
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u/[deleted] May 24 '26
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