There was some chatter on social media regarding the age of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s starting lineup against the Houston Rockets on Sunday.
The Thunder’s lineup was made up of Theo Maledon (19 years old), Lu Dort (21), Aleksej Pokusevski (19), Isaiah Roby (23) and Moses Brown (21).
With an average age of 21 years and 36 days, this had to have been the youngest lineup in NBA history. Right?
Not quite. The Thunder missed that distinction by about three total weeks of age. It’s the second-youngest, behind the Phoenix Suns’ March 23, 2017 starting lineup that had an average age of 21 years and 14 days, according to ESPN.
On that day, the Suns ran out a lineup of Tyler Ulis (21 years), Devin Booker (20), Derrick Jones Jr. (20), Marquese Chriss (19) and Alex Len (23)
ESPN noted that on that same day, eight teams played in the Sweet 16. The Suns’ lineup was younger than all except one of them.
One Thunder fan account found a similar stat about the NBA team and the University of Oklahoma — OKC’s lineup was more than half a year younger on average:
Average age of the Oklahoma Sooners’ starting five yesterday: 21.2 years old
Average age of today’s Oklahoma City Thunder starting five: 20.6 years old
— 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒆 🌩 (@Three_Cone) March 21, 2021
While the Thunder lineup isn’t the youngest of all time, it is the youngest to have gotten a win. That Suns team was blown out 126-98 by the Brooklyn Nets, the team who ended the season with the worst record in the league.
Oklahoma City’s group pulled out a 114-112 win over the Houston Rockets, who are now on a 20-game losing streak.
With the Thunder keen on exploring the roster, look for more instances like this in which Al Horford — and maybe even Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — get some rest.
Injured forward Darius Bazley is still only 20, after all. Should he return soon and replace Brown or Roby while the rest of Sunday’s starting unit stay the same, Oklahoma City would break the Suns’ record.
This post originally appeared on OKCThunderWire. Follow us on Facebook!
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