Why Thunder are still NBA players' favorites to win the Larry O'Brien trophy

Why Thunder are still NBA players' favorites to win the Larry O'Brien trophy originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The association's regular season was closer than expected. 2025-26 marks the first time since 2008-09 that there are three 60-win teams entering the NBA Playoffs. While competition has become tighter, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder are still the favorites to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy. How much are they favored? Well, The Athletic held an anonymous player poll and a vast majority know that the Western Conference giants are up for a repeat.

Thunder, Gilgeous-Alexander heavily favored to win it all

Look, the Thunder was a team that no one could touch until the winter started rolling around. Even then, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander still managed to lead this team and win 64 games which is two more than the second-best San Antonio Spurs. It is also not hard to see that their star player could notch a second MVP trophy. In fact, about 50% among 146 anonymous NBA players surveyed by The Athletic think that the Thunder are going to come out with the Larry O'Brien trophy.

Why is that the case? The players that Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder face on a daily basis have an answer..

"They won it last year. Obviously, it's really hard to repeat, but they brought back a lot of the same dudes and added some good pieces," an NBA player said.

Another kept the case for them winning it all a second time very simple, "They’re the most dominant team."

These claims would not be wrong too. Experience plays a factor in winning the Larry O'Brien trophy. More than that, the Thunder have also made it very hard to root against them all season. They have the best defense in the league with a rating of 107.7. Their offense is also in the upper echelon of players because their rating is valued at 118.9 which ranks seventh in the NBA. When the numbers are crunched, Gilgeous-Alexander has led this Thunder team to an astounding +11.1 net rating which stands as the greatest in the association before the NBA Playoffs.

The postseason is clearly a different beast. However, history has been right in picking the top-seeded team from the best conference quite a lot.

More Thunder News:

1. Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander atop NBA MVP race for majority of players

2. Carmelo Anthony gives his reasoning on SGA being his pick to win MVP over Wembanyama

3. Gilgeous-Alexander declines to make a case for potential back-to-back MVP award