The Athletic’s annual anonymous player poll is back — and the Oklahoma City Thunder is well represented.
An entire third of NBA players are represented in the votes for a variety of categories, including the MVP, best organization and face of the league in five years. To no one’s suprise given its 68-win total, the Thunder is involved often in the favored categories.
The MVP debate between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has been a hot topic, but this poll shows Gilgeous-Alexander is much more favored. Oklahoma City’s superstar garnered 56.1% of votes, while Jokic lagged behind with 37.4%.
Some of the cited opinions favoring Gilgeous-Alexander included his consistency and bringing the Thunder back to the top of the Western Conference — which would conclude a string of three seasons fighting for the award. Jokic can’t be counted out from his fourth career win, but Gilgeous-Alexander seems to have it moslty locked down.
Gilgeous-Alexander also came in as the third player most likely to be the “face of the league” in five years, only behind Victor Wembanyama and Anthony Edwards. No other player from Oklahoma City made the cut.
Not a single Thunder made the “most overrated” list either, but a whopping eight players were named as the “most underrated.” Luguentz Dort, Aaron Wiggins, Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace all brought in 2.2% of the vote each, rounding out the top-12. Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein and Isaiah Joe notched 0.7% respectively.
A standout from the poll came with coach Mark Daigneault, who led all coaches with 21.8% of votes as the best in the league. Despite established names of the Miami Heat’s Erik Spolestra and Golden State Warriors’ Steve Kerr, Daigneault had a clear edge on everyone else.
As far as Oklahoma City as a whole, it was featured in two categories. It was named the second-best organization in the NBA, only behind Golden State. The Thunder beat out the Boston Celtics on that list — one of the most heralded organizations in sports.
The one area where Oklahoma City didn’t beat out Boston was in the vote NBA Finals favorite. The Celtics took home 57.7%, followed by the Thunder with 17.5%. That might be the ultimate matchup, but it’s far off from being the favorite.
Not all of the categories can truly be measured — but this one certainly well.
