As the NBA playoffs soon begin, national pundits have taken their fair share of jabs towards the youthful Oklahoma City Thunder.
A chaotic regular-season finale saw luck break the Thunder’s way as they captured the top seed. They now await the winner of the Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans to learn who gains the eighth seed.
Despite the Thunder being near the top in traditional and advanced metrics — they finished top four in net rating, offensive rating and defensive rating — skeptics point towards their youth and experience for reasons why they can fall short in their playoff debut as a core.
After the Thunder’s playoff practice on Wednesday, their two best players spoke about the outside noise.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — who’s the face of the Thunder and will likely finish second in MVP — hushed away the national narratives, stating it’s something they’ve always heard.
“I heard that all year. It’s not gonna change,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We’re still young, we’ll probably be young for another four, five years. We don’t worry about it. We focus on what goes on in these four walls.”
It seems like the Thunder refuse to put stock into what national media figures have to say. Jalen Williams attested to that by also revealing they only care about what’s internally noted among them.
“Not concerned about what’s going outside of this building,” Williams said.
OKC’s young age has always been a sticking point for those who want to doubt its potential playoff success.
The only way Gilgeous-Alexander and his teammates can shut down those concerns will involve the Thunder winning their first playoff series since 2016.
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