It’s become cliché in recent years, but the newly-crowned NBA champion has to endure a summer filled with praise and flowers. It creates quite the oxymoron of enjoying being basketball’s darling while also avoiding falling in love with yourself too much.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are the most recent example of this. After they captured the Larry O’Brien trophy, it didn’t take long for the conversation to shift to more championships. They’ve become synonymous with NBA dynasties.
That’s happened with the last handful of NBA champions, but perhaps nobody is better suited to live up to it than the Thunder. They’ll run it back with mostly the same roster. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren all signed contract extensions this past summer to remain in OKC for the foreseeable future.
As Gilgeous-Alexander donned the GQ Magazine cover, he sat down with the well-known publication to talk all things related to his NBA career and ambitions. While one ring might be enough for most guys, he wants more. That should help the Thunder strive off complacency.
“That’s what it’s all about: In your era, how dominant can you be? And winning multiple in a row speaks to that dominance, for sure,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We definitely have the talent, the personnel, the chemistry, the experience to repeat. But so many things have to go right from now to the end of June 2026.”
Those are quite the heavy words by Gilgeous-Alexander. The dynasty talks have amped up around the Thunder, but it’s worth your attention to see what the franchise player had to say about them. He didn’t fully embrace it, but he’s not downplaying the opportunity they have in front of them.
If Gilgeous-Alexander is chasing NBA all-time greats, he’ll need to add more rings to his fingers. Guys like Kobe Bryant have five. He’s at one. It’s a good start, but he’s still a long ways away from being considered in the same sentence as other basketball pantheons.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: What would more rings mean to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander? NBA dominance
