Stiles Points: OKC Thunder Capture First Title, Building the Right Way

As the final seconds ticked off the clock, I got a feeling by the Black Eyed Peas began to play. A song that has symbolized the countdown to a Thunder win for a decade. None bigger than this, as the Oklahoma City Thunder knocked off the Indiana Pacers 103-91 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

The Thunder jumped with joy on the bench, boyish grins, grown man tears and emphatic embraces were shared as confetti fell upon the World Champions.

This was a long time coming for Oklahoma City.

After moving to Bricktown in 2008, the small market squad has been an anomaly. Since the Thunder's inaugural season, Oklahoma City has missed the playoffs just four times. Most of those years were spent as legitimate contenders before falling short –– for one reason or another.

After a two-year rebuild that felt longer due to the constant criticism, complaining and doubts, the Thunder were left with just the roar of a title-hungry crowd that finally clinched its championship thirst on Sunday.

Oklahoma City did this the right way.

Of course, that is easy to say after a 68-win season, with a historic defense, a superstar who led the league in scoring and swept the NBA MVP awards. an all-time great defense and a champion. But it is how they did it that should not only make the Thunder faithful beam but also be replicated by 29 other clubs.

Sam Presti issued a clear-cut plan for the Oklahoma City Thunder on the night that the team traded away Its Franchise icon, Russell Westbrook, to the Houston Rockets in the local newspaper, The Oklahoman.

Since that night, Presti would detail the exact players the Thunder were seeking out. The archetypes, the identity, and the process were no secret.

"As I said earlier, we can't be reactionary or emotional about it, we just have to keep chipping away every single day, knowing that over time we'll achieve our goals if we have the poise, the patience and the willingness to adjust to the setbacks that we'll inevitably encounter." Presti said in May of 2021, "As they say, shortcuts cut long runs short, and we're going to do everything in our power not to allow that to happen.

Despite the outside pressure, Presti remained firm in not taking any shortcuts. As many around league circles cast stones at Oklahoma City for hoarding draft picks, refusing to go all in and even going as far as to say the Thunder were "wasting" superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's prime.

Now, Gilgeous-Alexander is a champion at age 26 with more accolades than most collect in a lifetime. The Thunder didn't need to go big game fishing. They didn't need to let go of draft assets for a ready-made veteran or anything of the sort.

"When we do get back to the postseason, we want it to be an arrival and not an appearance, arrival meaning that we can return, we can be there, we can take some chance or bad fortune and not have it sink us completely. We've seen the benefit of that during our earlier years. We don't want to be in a position where we get there but we have no way to get back. That's the focus and the precision with which we're working," Presti continued. "We understand the ecosystem of the NBA, I think, very, very well. We understand how that works. We understand what we have to work with, and I feel extremely confident and optimistic about the future that we have here. We just have to continue to stick with it and understand that our city has given us our own best example, and we have to continue to subscribe to all those values."

The Thunder have not only made an arrival –– as back-to-back No. 1 seeds in the Western Conference and now Champions –– but have everything they need to set themselves up for another decade of dominance mirroring the first era of Bricktown basketball.

Oklahoma City's basketball identity is blue collar. Its off-court protocol is hospitality. A team and a style that resonates with the community they represent.

A community that stuck behind the Thunder organization during the short-lived dog days of this rebuild because of the clear-cut plans laid out and executed by the top front office executive. A rarity in professional sports.

Presti sat back at the plate, waited on his pitch and hit a home run with summer blockbusters such as trading for veteran Alex Caruso and inking Isaiah Hartenstein to the biggest free agent contract in club history. A couple of impossible moves without the dry powder from summers past despite national pressure.

A core that the Thunder bet on, Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams have already delivered Oklahoma City its first title. Role players such as Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, Aaron Wiggins, Jaylin Williams and Kenrich Williams all got to the mountain top on a path less traveled. From immense development spearheaded by another Presti calculated gamble in head coach Mark Daigneault.

It is hard to bat 1.000, but Presti came as close as possible. The key along the way? Transparency.

Song of the Day: Lovely Cruise by Jimmy Buffett