How the Thunder failed to win a title after drafting three MVPs in a row

On June 6, 2012, the Oklahoma City Thunder eliminated the Spurs in game six of the Western Conference Finals after falling behind two games to none, the Thunder recovered on their home court and returned to San Antonio tied 2 -2 with a lead of 103-101. less than 30 seconds left in game five James Harden drilled a dagger

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to push the Thunders' lead to five OKC came out of the building with a 3-2 series lead in game six the Spurs led by as many as 18, but A big third quarter by the Thunder, including this lead, taking

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from Durant, helped Oklahoma City set a date with LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the finals.

It was their first appearance in the NBA Finals since 1996, when they were known as the Seattle SuperSonics. This 2012 okc team was led here by a The core of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and Sixth Man of the Year James Harden, all under the age of 24 at the helm, were the man who drafted these stars, the general manager Sam Presti and former coach of the year Scott Brooks, but this trip to the finals. It started in Seattle in 2007, when the SuperSonics drafted Kevin Durant second overall. Durant went on to be named Rookie of the Year, but the Sonics didn't quite show their eye for talent.

In 2008, they selected Russell Westbrook with the fourth pick and Serge Ibaka with the 24th pick via a pick they acquired from the Phoenix Suns, but less than a week later, the Sonics, a beloved team in the Pacific Northwest, made Packed their bags and headed to Oklahoma City adopting the Thunder name along the way, a record of 23 and 59 in their first season in their New City got them the third overall pick in the 2009 draft, a draft in which the Thunder drafted Arizona State guard James Harden in 2010, they locked Durant to a 5-year, $86 million extension, he helped give the Thunder a 55 and OKC advanced to the Western Conference Finals before fall to a Mavs team that would defeat LeBron and the Heat in the finals.

The following year, the Thunder gave Westbrook a five-year extension to his contract. In the lockout-shortened 2011-2012 season, behind Durant's third straight scoring

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, a thrilling playoff run put them within touching distance of an NBA championship as the basketball world looked to have its next dynasty forming before their eyes, the Thunder had at home. -On-court advantage and momentum going into a series against a Heat team that proved vulnerable the year before. Could this young team delay the King James crown for another year? No, after winning the first game in Oklahoma City, the Thunder stayed silent while Miami's Big Three turned up the heat LeBron and company won four games in a row to give the city of Miami its second NBA championship.

The offseason became one of the big decisions for general manager Sam Presti, as both Serge Ibaka and James Harden entered the final year of their rookie contracts in August. Ibaka signed a four-year, $48 million extension, casting a sudden shadow of doubt on OKC's ability to resize and tighten up without plunging headlong into luxury tax hell. What the Thunder didn't know was that a new television deal was going to help the salary cap explode. In a couple of years, they provided a minimum for those luxury tax burns, but with the inability to predict the future, they did what they thought was right, they offered to toughen a deal worth about five million dollars below the maximum that they asked of their budding star, who had already sacrificed himself. a starting role to help the team sacrifice a little more to help their bottom line, he understandably felt he had already sacrificed enough and, with neither side budging, Presti decided to hand him over to the Rockets for a haul, including Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb and draft picks. the max steel they couldn't afford to pay him worked out to around $16 million a year, essentially chump change compared to some of the contracts signed after the salary cap went through the roof, but that's the tragedy of the situation when The stars began to align the times. was a little off or they blew it, the choice is theirs, even without toughening up, the Thunder dismantled the rest of the league en route to the best record in the Western Conference, becoming the fourth youngest team to win 60 games and being the first favorite in the conference setup. a first-round playoff matchup against a familiar face, Beard himself and his eighth-seeded Rockets.

It was the Rockets' first playoff appearance since 2009 and all thanks to Harden flourishing in his newly acquired starring role, but as usual in the first round, the 1 seed prevailed as the Thunder beat the Rockets and six, but the most momentous moment of the series came in the second game when a timeout was called in the second quarter, Rockets guard Patrick Beverley dove for the ball connecting with Westbrook Snee in the process, an MRI revealed . A torn meniscus and surgery would sideline him indefinitely. The third game would be the first game Westbrook missed, including college and high school.

They missed it sorely the next round as a rematch of the 2011 semifinals, with no help from the Memphis Grizzlies, a chance for revenge, a chance they took advantage of. sending the Thunder packing in five games in the offseason, one part of the hardened trade went while another cashed in with the 12th pick in the 2013 draft, the Toronto pick they acquired from Houston, OKC selected the future second rookie team, center Stephen Adams. Shortly after the draft, Kevin Martin, who proved not to be Harden's scoring replacement, was traded to the Timberwolves in a sign-and-trade. A second knee surgery before the start of the 13-14 season only cost Westbrook the first two games and after filling the Knicks' half with a 29-point loss on Christmas Day, the 23rd and 5th Thunder seemed prepared for another

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run, but a few days later it was announced that Westbrook would undergo a third knee surgery that would sideline him until the end of February in his Absence Durant continues to do what Durant dominates OKC finished with the second-best record in the NBA behind the Spurs and for his efforts Durant was named MVP but with the playoffs came another series against the Grizzlies this time in the first round.

In game 2, Mike Miller 3 put Memphis up 2 with less than a minute left and then down 5 with the shot clock off. Durant scored an upset score to set up a four-point play and Kendrick Perkins returned it at the buzzer. In overtime, it was the first of four consecutive games to go to overtime, but it was also the first of three of those games to end in Memphis' favor. OKC found themselves on the brink of elimination in Game 6 and came out on top, defeating the Grizzlies in Memphis 104-84. In the midst of that frustrating loss, Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph hit Steven Adams on the front wall in transition. , prompting a suspension for the crucial seventh game, a game in which the Thunder won handily thanks to Westbrook's triple-double and Durant's 33 points.

As OKC struggled through six games with the Clippers, they prevailed to set up a Western Conference Finals rematch with the Spurs, but lost Ibaka in the process, as a calf strain in Game 6 was supposed to keep him out for the rest of the playoffs, in which the Thunder had great difficulties. His absence made their defense lose while they were defeated in the first two games, then, to everyone's surprise, Ibaka returned for game three and brought new life to a Thunder team that managed to string together consecutive victories, but a loss in game 5 put them in danger.

On the brink of elimination with less than 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter of Game 6, Manu Ginobili hit a three-pointer to give San Antonio a one-point lead. Durant fell during the

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that followed the possession and put the ball back in the hands of Ginobili, who split two. free throws and increased their lead to 2. Westbrook would send it to overtime with a pair of free throws, but that was where the Spurs pulled away. Oklahoma City's season ended before the finals, once again heartbreaking for Thunder fans, of course, but at least for them. The core was perfectly healthy, putting them in position to run it again in October, before the start of the 2014-2015 season.

Kevin Durant was diagnosed with a Jones fracture in his foot. He returned in December, but in February he underwent a procedure to relieve it. discomfort in his foot and on March 27 he was officially ruled out for the season after electing to undergo another surgery. Durant's absence coupled with Westbrook's missed time earlier in the season due to a broken hand put OKC in a hole from which they never recovered. The Thunder were out looking to make the playoffs finishing ninth in the Western Conference via a tiebreaker with the Pelicans. It was the first playoffs without the Thunder since 2009 and it cost head coach Scott Brooks his job, in the words of Serge Ibaka, why would you?

Fire him, what have you done? Florida Gators head coach Billy Donovan was hired in his place and with his core back to full strength, the team turned its attention to the future. Durant and Westbrook tore through and helped lead the team to 55 wins, good enough. for a third berth in the 2016 playoffs after defeating the Mavs and five, the Thunder once again met the Spurs, but this time it was OKC's turn to finish the series and six advanced to the Conference Finals West, it was there that they met the defenders. The champion Golden State Warriors, coming off a record 73 and 9 regular season by surpassing the Bulls' 95-96 record of 72 wins, this Warriors team had a legitimate case to be remembered as the greatest team of all time. times, but the Thunder were up to the task. task for a moment OKC handed Golden State its first home loss of the playoffs in the first game thanks to double-doubles by four members of the Thunder's starting lineup, the Warriors recovered in the second game, but upon returning to Oklahoma City, the Thunder defeated the Warriors on the back foot.

Straight games OKC was in possession of a commanding 3-1 lead in the series that had the best regular season team in NBA history facing elimination and determined not to be eliminated on their home court, the Warriors extended the series with a victory in game five. sending him back to Oklahoma City and giving the Thunder a chance to finish it in front of their hometown fans, but with five minutes left in the quarter, the Warriors trailed by seven. Klay Thompson scored a three-pointer from well beyond the arc, his record tenth in the NBA playoffs. The 3-pointer of the night cut into the Thunder's lead with a 3-pointer a minute later by Splash's other brother, Steph Curry, cutting the lead to one in the final minutes of the game.

The three-point barrage continued as Curry hit again this time. tying the game at 99 with the score locked at 101 Andre Iguodala stripped Westbrook, leading to Thompson's 11th three-pointer of the game, giving the Warriors a lead they would hold to force a decisive Game 7. OKC went into the 48-42 final game of the series, but then the Warriors did what Warriors do and dominated the third quarter holding the Thunder to just 12 points and securing a double-digit lead. face the room. Oklahoma City would never lead again as Golden State became the 10th team in NBA history to come back from a 3-1 playoff deficit, an absolutely crushing blow to the OKC fan base, the Warriors then became the first team in NBA history to blow a 3-1 series lead in the finals. falling to LeBron and the Cavs, but were about to get some major help on draft day, the Thunder traded Serge Ibaka to Magic for a package involving Victor Oladipo.

The plan was to give Kevin Durant, who entered the offseason as a free agent, additional scoring. helped, but the salary cap increase that would have alleviated the Thunders' contract problems if they had given James Harden to Max Steel in 2012 also gave almost every other NBA team enough room to try to sign Durant, the winner of the KD draft, the team that signed one of the greatest scorers of all time in his prime, was a team that already had two of the best, if not the two, best shooters of all time and holders of a season record of 73 wins, the Golden State Warriors, was a decision that caused shock.

Throughout the NBA world and especially across the Oklahoma City team and fan base, the predominant thought following Durant's decision wasthat Westbrook would not sign an extension and would instead play out the final year of his contract, but Westbrook signed a 3-year contract in August indicating There is nowhere else he would rather be than Oklahoma City and adding loyalty is something I stand by when Asked why he decided to sign the extension now instead of at the end of the season, he responded that there's no need to wait if you know where you are. He wants this to begin what has been called Westbrook's revenge tour.

His 42 triple-doubles in the 2016-2017 season surpassed Oscar Robertson's record of 41 set in 1962 and made him the first player since Robertson to average a triple-double for the season. The race for that year's MVP came down to two players, Westbrook and his former teammate James Harden, in the end Westbrook received the crown, but the real battle between the two came in the first round of the playoffs; It was the second time Harden and the Rockets met. his old team in the postseason but this time it would be Houston that would advance the Rockets eliminated the Thunder in five games making it clear that Westbrook could not do it alone as Kevin Durant was named MVP of the Finals and finally became champion in During the Offseason, the Thunder made two big moves: The first came in July, when they traded a package that included Victor Oladipo for Pacers superstar Paul George.

The second came in September, when Westbrook signed a five-year Supermax contract worth more than two hundred million dollars, cementing his place in They also traded a Thunder uniform for former All-Star Carmelo Anthony, which would have been a more important business if it had worked. Anthony never really fit in and began a game of hot potato as he bounced around the league, but Melo stayed with the team for the duration of the year, a year in which Westbrook and George proved to be a formidable duo, but not good enough to to get out of the first round of the playoffs, but even as Durant captured his second NBA championship and James Harden became the third member of the 2012 Thunder to be named MVP OKC seemed to be on the brink of great things of its own despite of speculation for years that George had a desire to play in Los Angeles, he resigned from OKC saying: I'm here to stay, Paul George was there to remain committed to the Thunder for four years, shortly after resigning George.

He sent Anthony to the Hawks, where he would not play a game for them on April 10, the final regular season game of the 2018-2019 season. Russell Westbrook tied Magic Johnson for second on his career triple-double list with his 138 OKC wins in that game. the sixth seeds in the playoffs in the first round the Thunder faced Portland and fell behind three games to one, they put up a fight in an attempt to avoid elimination in the fifth game but with the game tied at 115 Damian Lillard decided to score His chapter in basketball or with a game-winning goal in Paul George's face Lillard ended OKC's season and then waved goodbye, which was appropriate because a few months later Paul George requested a trade to the Clippers to join forces with Kawhi Leonard in Los Angeles in the wake of George's departure, Westbrook also asked for a trade in an attempt to do the right thing.

Oklahoma City found a trade partner at the top of Westbrook's list on July 11. Russell Westbrook reunited with an old friend when he was traded to the Houston Rockets for Chris. Paul and a backpack full of draft picks Sam Presti, without the benefit of a No. 1 pick, selected three future MVPs in three consecutive drafts. It's the beginning of what should be a story of historic triumph, a meticulously crafted master plan for basketball domination, but in the end. everything was just a pile of paper in the wind as the fans and front office zoomed in on the pieces of success floating around them, there was nothing they could do but watch it all disappear over the horizon, thanks for watching this episode of collapse, yes I liked it, go watch the others if you haven't seen the others and stay tuned for future episodes, thank you.