The Oklahoma City Thunder have finished their senior season. Finally a legal adult. Eighteen seasons in, they’re one of the winningest franchises in the NBA over the last two decades. A great deal of that success stems from the professionalism, accountability, and consistency with which the organization operates.
At the head of that operation is Thunder Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti, who addressed the media Monday following Oklahoma City’s season-ending Game 7 loss to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals.
The overall atmosphere of Presti’s 2026 end-of-season press conference felt forward-thinking and, at times, slightly edgy, especially compared to how he typically operates.
By forward-thinking, Presti reiterated that while the Thunder failed to reach their ultimate goal, he was pleased with the growth many players experienced throughout the season.
“Injuries are a part of the sport. Every time we’ve had something like that, we’ve seen a silver lining in it. I think that happened again this year. We had a lot of growth in individuals.”
However, he also left plenty of room for improvement, further reinforcing that he wasn’t interested in using injuries as an excuse. In fact, he pointed to one of his biggest frustrations from the season.
“If there’s one thing I’m frustrated about, besides not winning the final quarter … I think we lost out on a lot of team development … the lack of continuity with our main guys.”
That frustration is understandable considering Oklahoma City’s Big Three of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Williams played together in only 40 percent of their possible games. The Thunder also dealt with injuries to key contributors such as Isaiah Hartenstein, Alex Caruso, and Ajay Mitchell, who, despite a strong rookie campaign, missed roughly 60 percent of his season due to injury.
Those comments naturally led to thoughts about the offseason, the trade machine that has become a favorite topic on social media, and the rumors that inevitably circulate throughout the league.
“I’m sure you’re going to hear plenty of misinformation from the media. A lot of that is just a distraction. It could be coming from our opponents. It could be coming from various agents. Not even the agents of our own players.”
Presti made one thing abundantly clear: he isn’t ready to make any declarations about next season.
He said it’s entirely possible Oklahoma City brings back the entire core and bets on better health moving forward. But before any decisions are made, Presti emphasized the importance of sitting down with everyone involved to understand where things stand before mapping out the next steps.
“Until I have those conversations, I won’t know how things are lining up.”
The edgier side of Presti’s press conference emerged when discussing the physicality of the playoffs, particularly Oklahoma City’s Western Conference Finals matchup against San Antonio.
That included references to Mason Plumlee’s hit on Jared McCain, Bismack Biyombo’s hard foul on McCain, and Carter Bryant’s foul on Gilgeous-Alexander, two of which were allegedly encouraged by Victor Wembanyama.
Another notable takeaway was Presti’s continued admiration and defense of Gilgeous-Alexander.
Throughout the season, social media, or what Presti referred to as the “alternate reality” and “the machine” — pushed countless narratives about what is wrong with today’s NBA, including the ongoing discourse surrounding Gilgeous-Alexander’s ability to draw fouls.
“The postgame press conference has turned into the bully pulpit to create a competitive advantage. It used to be you get up there and talk about your own team. Now everybody gets up there and talks about the officials and discredits the other team.”
At the end of the day, Presti returned to the facts.
The Thunder are 189-57 over the last three seasons, good for a 77 percent winning percentage. The starting lineup from Oklahoma City’s championship run played only 11 games together during the 2025-26 season. And according to Presti, accountability, not excuses, dominated the exit interviews he held with players following the season.
Presti capped off a spicy NBA season with an even spicier end-of-season press conference, delivering one of the more candid and revealing media sessions we’ve seen from him in recent years.
