There was no motivational speaker, and no catchy slogan, to help frame the Oklahoma City Thunder’s quest to repeat as NBA champions as they began this preseason.
“They’re not bringing in David Goggins,” Chet Holmgren explained, and then he began to give the broad strokes of how the second-youngest team in league history to win an NBA title is approaching the task of becoming the first team to win back-to-back NBA titles since the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018.
There have been "team film sessions and team addresses, I guess you could say,” Holmgren told USA TODAY Sports before a Thunder preseason game against the Bucks last week in Milwaukee, but that isn’t much different than how the Thunder operated in years past. The themes are new, however.
They’re not centered on the singular goal of winning a title like Oklahoma City just accomplished by beating the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals. They instead focus on what happened to the NBA teams that didn’t experience another celebration the next year, and how to avoid that fate.
“I just think we have a lot of realists on the team,” Holmgren said. “We understand we did something special last season, but we also understand that’s last season and it doesn’t do anything for us this season. If anything, it makes this season harder because you have that title next to your name and everyone’s kind of measuring themselves up to that, so they’re gunning for you.”
