"They Just Don't Respect Them" - Brian Windhorst Reports That Players In The West Apparently Don't Fear The Thunder

Zach Beeker. Getty Images.

There's a weird trend in the NBA where a team can be historically dominant, in a clear tier above the rest of the league, dominate their opponents on a nightly basis in ways we've basically never seen before in NBA history, yet for some reason people don't want to believe what they're seeing.

We saw it all the way through the 2023-24 Celtics championship run (and still do), where people twisted themselves into a pretzel to try and downplay what was happening on the hardwood. Maybe it was out of jealousy, maybe it was out of trolling, maybe it was out of stupidity, maybe it was all of the above, we'll never know for sure.

In 2024-25, we have two more instances of this bizarre thought process. The first comes via the team with the best record in the NBA and owners of another 15 game winning streak, the Cavs. What's the #1 thing you hear about them? Oh, they're fake, they're paper tigers, and none of this is sustainable, etc.

Meanwhile, we're 66 games into the season and they've crushed everything in their path. They are as for real as any contending team in recent history. Why there is this pushback to accept that is still very weird to me. You are what you put onto the floor!

The next instance comes via the other team having a historic season, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Another team that "hasn't done it before," so naturally people try and downplay what they're doing on the court, which is insane given the fact that they've had one of the most historically dominant seasons on both ends of the floor in NBA history. That is not an opinion, that is a fact. 

Aside from their historic defense and the highest point differential in NBA history, they also own an 11 game lead over the 2nd seed in the West, not too different from last year when the Celts had a 14 game lead over the 2 seeded Knicks. You would think such a dominant two-way season would earn them some respect amongst their peers, and yet....

I mean, Windy is right on the money. The way OKC is talked about is just as insane and just as moronic as what we had to hear with the Celts last season (and also hear about the Cavs this year). You know what it reminds me of? 

As we learned, Ja Morant was very much not fine in the West. 

I get the idea that until you reach the top of the mountain, there will be doubters or people who will only give you credit once you're the last team standing. I just see that as such a bizarre way to look at things. Sure, OKC and CLE have to prove it in the postseason just like the Celtics had to last year. That comes with the territory when you do historic shit. None of it matters if you don't win the ring. The historic defense, the MVP, the historic point differential, should OKC or CLE not win the title, it's one of the biggest choke jobs in NBA. Sorry, that's just the reality when you're talking about teams this good.

But to suggest there's no reason to believe in them, or that they aren't in a class of their own and shouldn't be feared is in my opinion, extreme cope. If OKC is so easy to beat and not all that scary, why is nobody able to beat them? Also, who are these players in the West that are talking? The Nuggets have the best shot in my opinion to knock off OKC after what we just saw earlier this week, but they look like a team that has the proper respect for such a tough opponent.

Is it Lakers players? What the hell have they proved outside of LeBron? Is it Grizzlies players like Ja saying this shit again? Well, when are the Grizzlies ever going to make the leap? They sure do talk a lot for a team that doesn't exactly win at a high level in the postseason. I know Rockets players aren't saying this shit, because they've all literally done nothing.

Teams like GS/LAC should definitely not be talking about how not scary OKC is because both of those teams might not even make the playoffs! 

Does this mean the Thunder (or the Cavs or the Celtics) are unbeatable? No. That's sports! Anything can happen in a 7 game series. But forming your argument around what "could" happen in the future as opposed to the concrete evidence we are seeing take place every night on the floor is frankly pretty embarrassing. It's OK to admit teams are really good! It's OK to give a team their proper respect when they have historic seasons! 

To me, this is what is going to make the playoffs so incredible. Usually, you only get one of these types of historic seasons from a team. Last year it was BOS, this year there are essentially 3 teams that should have the expectation to win the title, yet only one can win. I mean, quite literally every single team that has done what the Thunder and Cavs are doing this season has gone on to win the NBA title

Add in the pressure that OKC will have if SGA wins the MVP, and this is setting up to be an all time playoff run. We've legit never had something like this happen all in one season before, which makes that reporting from Windy crazy to me. 

But as they say, that's why they play the games. The body of work suggests teams like OKC and CLE are worthy of your respect and are as legit as a team could possibly be through 66 games of an NBA season. Whether or not they can back it up is what everyone can't wait to find out.