From the third young master to the whole nation’s soldiers! Thunder returned to the finals in the 13th year, the Counterattack philosophy of small cities

The Oklahoma City Thunder ushered in the second finals this summer. When champagne was sprayed in the locker room and the lights were focused on the moment when Alexander held the Western Conference Championship trophy high, everyone's thoughts were pulled back to the youthful summer thirteen years ago - the same as the scoring king and the same five-year team building cycle, but two completely different basketball narratives were written.

Do you still remember 2007? Seattle Supersonics used the second pick to remove the tall and thin Durant. At that time, no one expected that this teenager with braces would become an epoch-making scorer. In order to make room for the newcomer, the management sent Ray Allen away in exchange for Jeff Green, starting the first step of reconstruction. After relocating to Oxford the following year, Westbrook's joining gave the team a heartbeat vitality. In addition, Harden, who was taken away in the third year, the prototype of the Thunder Third Young Master was born. In the 2010-11 season, Durant became the youngest scoring champion in history. Although Artest's provocation was still heard in the playoffs, that series had laid the foreshadowing of its rise. The 2012 finals tour was like a carnival of geniuses. Durant's unsolved jump shot, Westbrook's explosive breakthrough, Harden's sixth man firepower, Perkins' penalty area protection and Ibaka's blocking deterrence, the Thunder entered the finals with offensive firepower averaged 106.3 points per game. On the night of defeating the Heat in the first game, the sky of Oscar seemed to be ignited. However, when LeBron connected the entire team with 33 assists, people suddenly realized that this young army that relies on personal abilities could not defeat the precision gear of team basketball.

Harden's departure is like the first domino. When the 2016 Western Conference Finals were reversed by the Warriors, Durant's departure became inevitable. In those years, we always assumed that if the three young masters were not separated, Westbrook's passing vision would be broader and Harden's defense would be tougher, could they cross the threshold of that team basketball? But there is no if in history. When Westbrook won the triple-double in single core in 2017, when Harden became the MVP in the Rockets, when Durant won the championship with the Warriors, the former Thunder Three Young Masters proved the upper limit of talent in their own ways, but they always left the regret of "the same team did not win the championship".

Time flowed to 2019, when Alexander brought the Clippers' draft pick to Oxford City, the Thunder were just a 22-win bottom team. Manager Presti's reconstruction strategy seems conservative: trade George for the No. 11 Alexander and No. 12 Jaylen Williams, trade Westbrook to hoard draft picks, and accurately select potential stocks such as Gidey and Chet at the draft. The defensive system brought by Coach Ma Dai is like injecting steel and iron into the team. From 24 wins in 2021 to 68 wins in 2025, they have completed a counterattack from the league's countdown to the first in defense in four years.

The Thunder are no longer the team that relies on their talent to make a living in the past. Alexander is not as tall as Durant, but he uses his rhythm master-like ball control and his calmness at critical moments to become the cornerstone of the team; Jaylen Williams is willing to be a green leaf and becomes the defensive vanguard with 1.8 steals per game; Caruso's iron-blooded defense and Harten's pick-and-roll are down, and each character player is shining in his own position. When the Western Conference Finals beat the Nuggets, the camera swept over the undrafters waving towels on the bench, and you'll understand that the team's success is never accidental.

It has to be said that the Clippers may be an "unexpected assist" to the rise of the Thunder. In order to get the draft pick given by George, it eventually became Alexander and Jaylen Williams - the pair is now one of the MVP winners and the other is the candidate for the best defensive lineup. Presti has spent seventeen years proving that he can also build a champion in a small city with accurate talent vision and patient training. From being a genius basketball that relies on the third young master to now a team basketball where everyone is a soldier, Thunder’s transformation path is full of perseverance and wisdom.

When the whistle of the finals is about to sound, the fans of Oxford may remember what Presti said: "We never pursue quick success, we only believe in the right process." Thirteen years ago, they shocked the league with their talent; Thirteen years later, they redefine success with team basketball. This time, there is no shining of the third young master, but there is more tenacity accumulated by the years - perhaps this is the basketball philosophy of a small city, and it is also the "spring" of the thunder.