Wait, let's back up.
If you're asking about the "2025 NBA Championship," we actually need to talk in the past tense. It’s January 2026. The 2024-25 season is in the books. The confetti has long since been swept up from the floors of the Paycom Center.
But I get it. With the way the 2025-26 season is currently unfolding—with the Oklahoma City Thunder sitting on a ridiculous 35-7 record—everyone is obsessing over whether they can repeat. To understand if they’ll win again in 2026, we have to look at how they actually pulled off the who will win nba championship 2025 race that left everyone else in the dust.
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Honestly, it wasn't even as close as the Vegas odds suggested back in the day.
The Thunder’s Path to the 2025 Title
Last June, the Oklahoma City Thunder didn't just win; they essentially broke the league’s "young teams don't win" rule. They finished the regular season with 68 wins. That’s historic. Then they ran through the playoffs, eventually meeting the Indiana Pacers in a Game 7 that felt like a fever dream.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA) basically cemented his legend in that series. He dropped 29 points and 12 assists in the clincher, winning Finals MVP. It made him and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar the only players ever to win a scoring title, regular-season MVP, and Finals MVP by age 26.
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The Pacers were the ultimate "nobody saw them coming" team of 2025. They took down the Knicks and the Celtics. But losing Tyrese Haliburton to that brutal Achilles injury in the first quarter of Game 7? You just don't recover from that against a team like OKC.
Why the 2025 Favorites Faltered
People kept waiting for the Boston Celtics to flip a switch. It never happened. They were good—61 wins is nothing to sniff at—but they got bounced by the Knicks in the second round.
Then you had the Denver Nuggets. Nikola Jokic was doing Jokic things, but they ran into a buzzsaw. They lost a grueling seven-game series to the Thunder in the Western Conference Semifinals. That was actually the real "Finals" if we’re being real. Whoever won that series was taking the trophy home.
The 2026 Landscape: Can They Repeat?
Since we are currently mid-way through the 2025-26 season, the question has shifted from who will win 2025 to who can stop the Thunder from doing it again.
Currently, the Thunder are the heavy favorites with +115 odds at most sportsbooks. They have a net rating of +13.2, which is just stupidly high.
The Biggest Threats Right Now:
- Detroit Pistons: Yeah, you read that right. The Pistons are leading the East with a 29-10 record. Cade Cunningham has finally turned into the superstar everyone hoped he’d be.
- San Antonio Spurs: Victor Wembanyama is a defensive alien. The Spurs are currently 2nd in the West (28-13) and are the only team that seems to bother Chet Holmgren and the Thunder’s interior scoring.
- New York Knicks: They’re hovering around 25-16. Jalen Brunson is still a walking bucket, and they have the grit, but they feel like they’re one piece away from actually toppling a healthy OKC.
What Most People Get Wrong About This Era
The biggest misconception about the 2025 championship was that it was a "fluke" because of injuries. People point to Haliburton's injury or the Celtics' internal fatigue.
That’s a lazy take.
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The Thunder won because they pioneered a new way of building. They didn't just "tank"; they hoarded specific archetypes of players—long, versatile, and high-IQ. Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren weren't just "supporting" SGA in 2025; they were co-stars.
Key Stats from the 2025 Title Run
- Defense: OKC led the league in forced turnovers during the playoffs.
- Efficiency: They were the first team since the 2017 Warriors to shoot over 40% from three as a team during a 7-game Finals series.
- Clutch Factor: SGA led all players in "clutch" points (points in the final 5 minutes of a game within 5 points).
Looking Ahead: The Road to June 2026
If you’re looking to place a bet or just want to win an argument at the bar, keep an eye on the Houston Rockets. They’ve added Kevin Durant to a core of Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun. They’re sitting at 23-15 and just beat Minnesota. They have the "old head" scoring that could give the young Thunder problems in a playoff setting.
The 2025 championship changed the NBA’s power structure. The "Old Guard" of LeBron, Steph, and KD (before he moved to Houston) is officially in the rearview. We are living in the SGA and Wemby era now.
Actionable Insights for NBA Fans:
- Watch the Spurs-Thunder matchups: This is the new premier rivalry. It's the only game where the Thunder’s "positionless" basketball hits a wall.
- Monitor the Pistons' trade deadline: If Detroit adds one more veteran wing, they are the legitimate favorites to come out of the East.
- Don't count out the Nuggets: As long as Jokic is healthy, Denver is a threat, even if they’ve started the 2025-26 season a bit slow at 28-13.
The 2025 NBA championship was the start of a dynasty. Whether it continues through 2026 depends entirely on if anyone can solve the puzzle of Oklahoma City’s defense before the playoffs start in April.