As one of the most successful franchises in professional sports, the Los Angeles Lakers can serve as a model for success, particularly for teams in the NBA, such as the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Although the Lakers have turned it up a notch during the 2025-26 NBA season, with Luka Dončić looking like a legitimate NBA MVP candidate and Austin Reaves emerging as a potential All-Star, the Thunder are the team to beat, and the franchise everyone in the league is looking to as a blueprint on how to build sustained success.
Rich Paul’s Unexpected Take Linking the Lakers to the Thunder
Along with the Thunder being arguably the most well-run franchise in the NBA right now, Klutch Sports superagent Rich Paul recently made an interesting point to Max Kellerman, who relayed it to Bill Simmons of The Ringer, about why Oklahoma City has been so successful with the lack of energy from opposing teams that are gearing up to play in Los Angeles, via Full Court Pass X account.
Rich Paul says the Thunder are so dominant at home because they play in OKC
“The teams that they’re going to face are not energized. They’re already thinking ‘in a couple of nights, we’re going to be in LA’”
(h/t @MrBuckBuckNBA)pic.twitter.com/afHTv96fOY
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) December 3, 2025
“The teams that they’re going to face are not energized. They’re already thinking ‘in a couple of nights, we’re going to be in LA’”
Although this take from Paul might be a bit of a stretch, as it discredits how good this Thunder team has become with reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the way, he does have somewhat of a point, considering teams are not exactly gearing up to compete in a small market.
Regardless of whether this is true or not, the Thunder don’t show any signs of slowing down, with the team fresh off its first NBA title and well on its way to building a dynasty, led by Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams for the small-market franchise.
The Thunder are already off to a red-hot start to the 2025-26 campaign, as they are sporting an NBA-best record of 20-1 while riding a 12-game win streak, which is already the best stretch in the league right now.
Unless the rest of the NBA can figure out a way to catch up, the Thunder could be sitting atop the league for quite some time as the next budding dynasty.