How OKC Thunder Can Repeat as 2025-26 NBA Champions, Part Two: Playoff Health

The 2024-25 Oklahoma City Thunder set itself up for a championship run perfectly by winning 68 regular-season games, clinching the Western Conference's No. 1 seed over the Houston Rockets with five weeks to spare. After all, nine of the last 13 NBA champions finished atop their conference.

Every title team must play well through 82 games, as better teams earn more forgiving paths to the ultimate trophy. The next universal requirement is postseason health.

Last season, Chet Holmgren missed 50 regular-season contests, including 39 straight with a right hip fracture. He played in all 23 Thunder playoff games. New additions Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein also did not miss any postseason action despite sitting out 53 combined regular-season games.

Excluding 2024 lottery pick Nikola Topic, who had suffered a partially torn ACL before Oklahoma City even selected him, the Thunder's injury report stayed clean throughout the playoffs. Seven crucial rotation players — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Holmgren, Luguentz Dort, Caruso, Hartenstein and Cason Wallace — each logged 23 appearances. Aaron Wiggins (22) and Isaiah Joe (21) missed narrowly because of DNP-CDs.

Williams played through the entire postseason with a torn ligament in his right wrist. Still, the Thunder joined three other champions in the last decade by keeping all five starters on the court for every playoff game.

To put it simply, championship teams stay healthy when their seasons are on the line. Nine of the last 10 champions had four or five starters appear in every playoff game. The only deviation: Superstar forward Kevin Durant and serviceable center Zaza Pachulia each missed two contests on the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors.

Just like last season's Thunder, the 2022-23 Denver Nuggets and 2021-22 Warriors kept their entire rotations healthy across all four rounds. The 2018-19 Toronto Raptors missed sophomore forward OG Anunoby, who had not yet broken out into a two-way force, during the entire playoffs.

Superstar guard Stephen Curry and instrumental backup forward Andre Iguodala missed 12 combined games on the 2017-18 Warriors, tying the 2023-24 Boston Celtics' big man Kristaps Porzingis for the most starter playoff games lost to injury among the last 10 champions. Both teams still shredded their competition.

Health is by far the most fluctuating variable for any team or player striving to make a championship run. Countless title teams have benefited from more playoff injury luck than their opponents, including the 2024-25 Thunder.

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant technically sat out the only full playoff game against Oklahoma City, during the first round's Game 4, but he also missed the whole second half in Game 3 after falling hard onto his hip. Nuggets forwards Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. played through nagging injuries during the second round, with the former gutting out a Grade 2 hamstring strain in the winner-take-all Game 7.

And, of course, Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton experienced a right calf strain during the NBA Finals' Game 5. He played through it until suffering a non-contact Achilles injury in Game 7 while trying to drive toward the basket.

Not all starters are equally impactful, and not all injuries contain equal severity. However, even with outliers on both sides of the spectrum, the average NBA champion over the last 10 years has lost 2.4 fewer starter games during the playoffs than their opponents.

To repeat as champions this season, the Thunder must first perform as it has for two straight years, and then hope for better playoff injury luck than its opponents.