"OKC: the NBA Team that brings the most smiles per minute" - Opinion

“OKC: the NBA Team that brings the most smiles per minute” - Opinion

Growing up in Southern New Jersey, about 20 minutes across the bridge from Philadelphia, I wasn’t the biggest fan of childhood activities.  I was (and still am) horrible at drawing and generally at any creative or artistic pursuits other than writing.  I really didn’t like playing with dolls or having tea parties or hanging out with other kids my age.  One thing that captured my attention and that I truly enjoyed was following in my Dad’s footsteps to become a lifelong NBA and Sixers fan.

Some of my fondest memories are from attending Sixers games.  I was lucky to have the chance to see Dr. J. and Charles Barkley and Allen Iverson play in person rather than always on the TV.  There is something special about the experience of actually being there for a game, just being in that atmosphere with other fans, sharing the sorrows of bad play and the joy of winning.  Chemistry, synergy, and intangible excitement is really paramount to team success – not just the chemistry between the players themselves, but also between the players and the franchise, the front office, the coaching staff, and the fans.

This season has been a heartbreaker for all of us Sixers fans.  Max and multi-year contracts have been signed by aging former all-stars Joel Embiid and Paul George, who are in their 30s now and continue to be injury prone.  At the start of the season, both were out for knee injury management. After the first few games, which were played without the aforementioned players, the Sixers also lost Tyrese Maxey – who was a first -time all-star last year and was named the league's “Most Improved Player” – for a few weeks due to a hamstring injury.  So, there were a handful of games with 0 out of the 3 of the “big 3” actually playing. The only positive during that time was the breakout rookie season of Jared McCain (which has now ended prematurely due to a meniscus tear).

There is a team in the Western Conference that similarly continues to face ongoing injuries to key players – including Chet Holmgren (who finished second in last year's rookie-of-the-year voting), Jaylin Williams, and Isaiah Hartenstein (who joined the team via free agency over the summer after helping lift the Knicks to the Eastern Conference finals). That team is the Oklahoma City Thunder – whom I will refer to simply by their colloquial moniker “OKC” from here on – who stunned the league last year by becoming the youngest team in history to secure the top conference seed.  This year, unbelievably, OKC has been in the top-seed position for most of the season and continues to play at an elite level despite injury woes. Talk about a “no excuses” mentality!

How can the stark difference in success, or lack thereof, of OKC vs. the Sixers, be explained?  Both teams are missing key players, several of whom happen to be versatile “big men” who can really help spread the floor for outside shooters in addition to contributing rebounding, defense, and being able to score and assist themselves.  For OKC, center Hartenstein has finally returned, but they are still missing center Holmgren and only recently were able to bring back forward Williams.  For the Sixers, George has returned on a semi-regular basis and Embiid finally was able to play in some key games; because Maxey returned a few weeks ago, the new “Big 3” for the Sixers finally got to play together for several entire games over the last few months, and the team has indeed won a couple of big games.  But, the fact remains that OKC has found a way to grind out wins and maintain the #1 seed in the Western Conference despite their injury woes, while the Sixers are just fighting to get up to at least the 10th spot to be able to make the play-in tournament this Spring.

Three words sum up the reasons that OKC has been able to thrive while the Sixers have failed: 1) YOUTH, 2) DEPTH, and 3) CHEMISTRY.  Youth is self-explanatory, since even the best of athletes slow down and become naturally more injury prone as they age.  Anecdotally, it appears that transitioning to the “wrong side of 30” starts to really accelerate a player’s tendency to miss games due to injuries and load management.  Depth is something that OKC has more of than perhaps any other team in the league, courtesy of the strategic organization-building efforts by OKC executive Sam Presti (likely to be named Executive of the Year this season) and head Coach Mark Daigneault (named Coach of the Year last season). OKC doesn’t rely heavily on trades, but rather they search exhaustively for players that would end up being a good fit for their system that they can develop post-acquisition. Case in point - their 2nd round draft pick Ajay Mitchell (chosen 38th) is already having more success than many of his first-round-pick counterparts.

Looking through comments on a Reddit forum RE: OKC, several users talked about “immaculate vibes;’ this phrase, in my opinion, truly describes that intangible feeling that is palpable through the television because it’s something special. CHEMISTRY is the proverbial 6th man for the OKC team.  I joke that OKC is leading the league in “smiles per minute,” both among the players themselves playing with such joy and intensity, as well as the smiles they bring to us fans who are watching the games.  It’s obvious that the players trust each other, work incredibly hard to be ready to step up in various roles in a fast-paced system on any given day, and truly enjoy playing together.  Plenty of teams/players/coaches say they want players who will be unselfish by prioritizing wins over individual accolades, but it’s another thing to realistically assemble a collection of 10+ players who can play at an elite level together with no egos.

The only questions that remain are: will OKC make it to the NBA Finals…and if so, do they really have a chance to win against the Boston Celtics or whichever more experienced team comes out of the Eastern Conference?  My opinion is affirmative to both of those questions.  I’ll be a fan for years to come – of the basketball skills and of the aforementioned IMMACULATE VIBES among the players, coaching staff, fans, press, and franchise office.  While “most smiles per minute” will never be an official statistic or award, this is what the Oklahoma City Thunder bring to every game they play and to every interaction with fans and with one another off the court. 100% genuine joy and camaraderie is FUN to watch, and I am so happy to have adopted this team as my second-favorite to follow closely. Watching OKC has been the perfect antidote to the continuing woes of being a Sixers fan. Never change, OKC, never change!