THUNDER ROAD

Coming off an NBA title, OKLAHOMA CITY has a roster that makes it likely that the path to the Finals will go through Bricktown for the foreseeable future

- CHRIS MANNIX

LAST MONTH, as the confetti fell from the rafters inside Paycom Center, the two men most responsible for Oklahoma City's first NBA title shared a long embrace. Sam Presti, the bespectacled executive hell-bent on building a champion in one of the league's smallest markets. And Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the young star on whom he bet everything to win it. The road had obstacles: double-digit losing streaks, 20-ish win seasons, talking heads screaming for Presti to deal away Gilgeous-Alexander. They battled from 22 wins their second year together to 68 this season, from the lottery to a championship. As the celebration around them picked up steam, the two hugged and acknowledged the journey. "We both just said, 'We made it to the mountaintop,'" says SGA. "We earned it."

It has been nearly a decade since Presti stared down uncertainty, back when Kevin Durant defected to Golden State, leaving Oklahoma City to face a dark future. He tried to win with Russell Westbrook (didn't that fit the vision (Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein), subtracting those (Josh Giddey, Darius Bazley) that didn't.

What came from it, says coach Mark Daigneault, is "an uncommon team," deeply talented, deeply connected and, not surprisingly, overwhelmingly successful. Only two teams-the 2015-16 Warriors and 1995-96 Bulls-have finished a season with more total wins than the Thunder. Those teams defined those eras. Oklahoma City hopes it can define this one.

The NBA has achieved unprecedented parity. For the seventh consecutive season, the league crowned a new champion. No team has played in back-to-back Finals during that stretch. Winners have been from big markets (Golden State, Boston) and small (Milwaukee, Denver), with stars from Serbia (Nikola Jokić), Greece (Giannis Antetokounmpo) and Canada (Gilgeous-Alexander). Former NBA commissioner David Stern once snickered that his job was to shuttle between Boston and Los Angeles to hand out trophies.