The Thunder are so young that popping champagne was their toughest test
The Thunder were the youngest team in the NBA this past season, but that didn't stop them from winning their first championship in Oklahoma City.
This roster also became the youngest team to win the NBA Finals since the Portland Trail Blazers in 1977. While that didn't stop them from having the best record in the regular-season or from winning the title, it did slow them down a little bit during their celebration.
Oklahoma City beat Indiana (playing without franchise star Tyrese Haliburton due to an Achilles injury) in Game 7. Afterward, it was only natural that the team have a little bit of fun.
However, it was a bit more difficult for them to open the champagne than they may have expected. Oklahoma City executive Sam Presti joked that it was because none of them were old enough to drink.
No one aside from Alex Caruso (who previously won a championship with the Lakers in 2020) seemed to know how to do it:
Thunder big man Isaiah Hartenstein admitted "none of us knew how to do it" when asked why Caruso was asked for help.
Back when Hartenstein won a title playing in Lithuania, he said that his team opted for tequila instead.
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NBC Sports
21 minutes ago
- NBC Sports
Tyrese Haliburton reportedly suffered torn right Achilles in Game 7 loss
Tyrese Haliburton suffered a torn right Achilles tendon on Sunday night, according to a report from ESPN's Shams Charania. Breaking: Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton sustained a torn right Achilles tendon in Game 7 against Oklahoma City, sources tell ESPN. Haliburton played through a calf strain in the same leg during the NBA Finals for an opportunity to win a championship. The worst case scenario has been confirmed after Haliburton went down during the first quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Finals against the Thunder. He got off to a hot start, scoring nine points in the first seven minutes before going down with the injury. Prior to the game, Haliburton had been dealing with a right calf strain that he suffered in Game 5, which resulted in his name appearing on the injury report ahead of Games 6 and 7. But with a ring on the line, Haliburton played through it. Things went well in Game 6, with Indiana winning 108-91 while Haliburton only needed to play 23 minutes. Even after Haliburton went down on Sunday, the Pacers, who have been resilient throughout their postseason run, were able to take a lead into halftime and keep things competitive early in the second half before OKC took control late in the third quarter before going on to win 103-91. There is no official timeline for Haliburton's return at this point, though there should be an update after he undergoes surgery to repair the tendon. However, Haliburton's status for the 2025-26 season is in jeopardy. The Pacers recently traded away the 23rd pick in the 2025 draft to reacquire their 2026 first-round pick, which means they'll only be able to add help in this draft with the 54th pick, unless they make another move. They can also apply for an injured player exception between July 1 and January 15, which would allow them to sign a free agent for half of Haliburton's salary for next season, giving them roughly $22.75 million to work with. Indiana will likely turn to Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell to split the point guard duties until Haliburton returns.
USA Today
23 minutes ago
- USA Today
6 NBA contenders standing in the way of a Thunder repeat in 2026
On Sunday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder became the youngest NBA team to win it all in nearly five decades. And they're led by reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who will only be 27 come next season, while his running mates like Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren continue to grow. This paints the picture of a young Thunder squad potentially primed to complete the league's first repeat in 2026. But as we all know, that is much easier said (and theorized about) than done. When the target's on your back with everyone else using you as a de facto measuring stick, things are different. They're more heated throughout a long season than they should be because no one gives you a night off. No one. Throw in a natural, all-too-human tendency toward possible complacency — it's really hard to be just as hungry for and committed to winning a repeat title right after winning your first — and a Thunder repeat next year is anything but a guarantee. Even the Thunder's healthy culture isn't immune to that. That's to say nothing of the Thunder's competition, which will be preparing for and loading up accordingly to beat them this summer. Let's examine the biggest challengers to the Thunder's throne in 2026, talk about what questions and strengths they have, and give them a good old-fashioned ranking. 6. Golden State Warriors Barring some major changes, I'm concerned about the Warriors' core (Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler) all being players in their late 30s. The NBA is a young man's league, especially when you have to play around 100 games over roughly eight months to win the title. But there's no denying that the Warriors have a lot of juice with Butler in the fold. Give these guys a full offseason and training camp together, and they might morph into a powerhouse. 5. Minnesota Timberwolves Are Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert long for Minnesota? Can an aging Mike Conley handle another full season as the Timberwolves' primary offensive initiator? These are questions the Timberwolves will have to ask themselves in earnest over the next few weeks. But after two consecutive Western Conference Finals appearances, I'm not quite ready to bury Anthony Edwards' bunch yet, even if they could take a temporary step back. I still think this group can do something special if given the chance. 4. Houston Rockets I won't deny that the Rockets will likely become a bona fide NBA title contender after adding Kevin Durant. The legendary scorer is exactly what the doctor ordered for a defensively oriented squad that needed more dynamic creation and shotmaking. With that said, the Rockets will be Durant's third team since 2023 after stints with the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns. And everyone also talked up the Nets and Suns with Durant in a similar fashion before they ... eventually fell flat on their face. This time around, Durant will also be 37 with a lot of mileage. The Rockets are in a better position than most to mitigate an aging Durant's workload, but he'll still be expected to carry a lot as a No. 1 scoring option. If he remains capable of doing so for a full season, then the Rockets will definitely live up to the hype and be a championship-caliber force. 3. New York Knicks Fun fact: Each of the last three Eastern Conference runner-ups (the Miami Heat, the Boston Celtics, and the Indiana Pacers) all made the NBA Finals in the following season. Next in line to follow this trend is the Jalen Brunson/Karl-Anthony Towns New York Knicks. As flawed as the Knicks might seem, the top of the East should be a smoldering mess for a little while after Jayson Tatum's and Tyrese Haliburton's Achilles tears. Upstart squads like the Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons might enter the fray, but they're a bit too young and inexperienced to fully trust just yet. That paints a picture where the Knicks should enter next season as the East favorites (provided they make the right coaching hire, of course). If they get a great roll of the dice, maybe they go all the way and finish the job this time around. 2. Los Angeles Lakers I hate to admit this, but the Luka Dončić Lakers are going to be a problem. If you still think they have too many questions to address, c'mon now. Be serious. There's no doubt in my mind they'll find a way to address everything particularly pressing. We're talking about the Lakers, dearest readers. That's what they do. They will find an athletic rim-running center for Dončić. They will address their weak perimeter defense. They will find more depth to support their constellation of stars. Somehow, some way, they'll figure it out. No one wiggles their way out of a tight jam quite like the purple and gold. And when all is said and done, they will be a Western Conference powerhouse. Don't say I didn't warn you. 1. Denver Nuggets For the time being, Nikola Jokić's Nuggets are stuck between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, Denver's starting five, led by the best player in the world, remains one of the finest the NBA has to offer. That same starting five pushed the rival Thunder to seven games in the second round, and that was with injuries to Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr., and Russell Westbrook. Realistically, the Nuggets might only be a couple of good bench contributors away from turning themselves back into a title-caliber juggernaut. They're that close. On the flip side, the Nuggets will likely find it challenging to add those necessary bench pieces this offseason, given how expensive their core already is. Denver has had issues with depth dating all the way to its first NBA title run in 2023. It's on a newly minted front office to make the right and prudent choices with the Nuggets' limited assets to fill in the blanks. If they do, the Nuggets should be neck and neck with the Thunder while seeking payback next spring.
CNN
23 minutes ago
- CNN
Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton suffered a torn right Achilles tendon in Game 7 of NBA Finals, per multiple reports
Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton suffered a torn right Achilles tendon during Sunday night's Game 7 of the NBA Finals, according to multiple reports. The news – first reported by ESPN's Shams Charania – builds on what Haliburton's father told ESPN's broadcast during the game, which was that the point guard had suffered an Achilles injury. CNN has reached out to the Pacers for comment. Haliburton's injury was a brutal moment. Starting the game with three 3-pointers, Haliburton was talking trash to the Oklahoma City crowd, bouncing around like a ball of energy and looked ready to put his team on his back in the biggest game of his life. But with about five minutes to go in the first quarter, he made a quick move and planted his right foot onto the court. In slow-motion replays that were eventually shown repeatedly throughout the broadcast, the snap of his Achilles tendon was clearly visible, and he crumpled to the floor. Haliburton immediately looked distraught, pounding the court and appearing to yell, 'No!' repeatedly. Adding to the pain of the moment was the fact that Haliburton had said after a dominant Indiana win in Game 6 that he wasn't going to let an injury stop him from playing and that he knew the risks – but wanted to play on the biggest stage. 'I want to be on the floor, and if I have the ability to, if I can – like I said, if I can walk, I want to be out there,' Haliburton said after Game 6. 'I just want to be out there with my brothers to compete. Yeah, those guys have my back, and I feel like I have theirs at the same time. You know, that was important for me.' The look on Haliburton's face as he was treated on the floor said it all. Much as when Kevin Durant ruptured his Achilles in the 2019 NBA Finals, he appeared to know his night – and potentially all of the 2025-2026 season – was done. He was helped off the court with a towel covering his head. For a time, his team rallied without their star. The Thunder and their fans at Paycom Center actually appeared to be the ones most affected by the injury as the eventual champions looked flat and listless for much of the second quarter while the Pacers played inspired ball. 'You just hate to see it in sports in general, but in this moment, my heart dropped for him. I couldn't imagine playing the biggest game of my life and something like that happening. It's not fair. But competition isn't fair sometimes,' said Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder star who would be named the Finals MVP. But after the halftime break, the adrenaline wore off for Indiana and the Thunder returned to their normal, world-beating selves. A massive third quarter sparked a romp to victory for OKC as the Pacers could only be left wondering what might have been if Haliburton had been out on the floor. It was clear how much the game took out of the Pacers as they came off the floor following the game. Haliburton was shown on crutches, hugging his teammates as they came off the floor. Multiple Pacers were in tears as the emotions poured out. 'We needed Ty out there. He's been good for us all year, and for him to go down in the beginning of the game like that, it like it sucked the soul out of us,' Pacers forward Obi Toppin said. Said Indiana star forward Pascal Siakam: 'He did some incredible things, like this whole playoff run and this year, and yeah, like I'm just super proud of him. Obviously, it hurts because we couldn't get it done, and I wanted it so bad for him just because I know that he gave us everything, you know, everything he had. It just hurts that he couldn't see it through with us.' Haliburton was the key to the Pacers' impressive playoff run, hitting big shots over and over as Indiana looked undeniable at points. He produced one of the signature moments of the playoffs in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals as he led the Pacers on a massive comeback in the final minutes against the New York Knicks, eventually hitting a tying shot as the buzzer sounded to send the game to overtime – and mimicked Reggie Miller's famous 'choke' celebration on the Madison Square Garden floor. Indiana eventually won that game in overtime. In the Finals, he recreated those heroics by helping to engineer a comeback win over the Thunder on the road in Game 1. He hit a mid-range jumper with 0.3 seconds to go in the game to give Indiana its only lead, stealing the series opener on the road. After being named the most overrated player in the league by his peers earlier in the season, Haliburton seemed to be on a mission to prove all the doubters wrong in the playoffs. He also hit game-winning shots to beat the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers in the earlier rounds. 'I can't imagine how he's feeling. He's having an amazing run to even get to this point, and for it to end like that, it's heartbreaking,' Pacers center Myles Turner said. Haliburton now faces a long layoff that tosses the Eastern Conference next year into uncertainty. Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard and Boston Celtics lynchpin Jason Tatum also suffered the same injury during these playoffs, and it's unknown how their teams will react to the long-term injuries.
