Kevin Durant Believes in Young OKC Thunder Ahead of the NBA Playoffs

The Oklahoma City Thunder lack experience heading into the playoffs, but that doesn't worry former franchise legend Kevin Durant.

Mar 29, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) walks onto the / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

They say lightning doesn't strike twice. But apparently Thunder does.

In Oklahoma City, the Thunder are in an eerily similar situation to the initial era of basketball in Bricktown.

Despite sitting at 50-22, the Oklahoma City Thunder have been questioned due to their lack of experience all season long. Led by a starting five with an average age of 22.6 and a head coach who has never led a team in a playoff series, it's easy for media and fans league-wide to have some reservations about the squad. That is something former Thunder great Kevin Durant doesn't agree with.

"It's just basketball. At the end of the day, we do this s— every day. There is more at stake in the playoffs, more people watching, criticizing and praising you. At the end of the day, it's hoops. We practice hoops every day. So I think the young teams that keep it at basketball, and not worry about the lights and what that time means to everybody else and just keep it at hoops, those are the ones that succeed. I think [this Thunder team] is locked in and just focusing on the game so they'll be fine," Durant said in the locker room pregame on Friday.

Durant knows from experience what it takes for a young team to navigate through the treacherous waters of the NBA postseason, and while he admits it was easier back then, he still has confidence in this young Thunder team to be able to handle the bright lights of playoff basketball.

“I mean, we never really listened to the noise, it wasn’t as easy to hear what fans and media was saying back then. It is easier to hear all that s— now, so we didn’t even really think about if we was ready. Just went out there and played. Played with intensity. I think that makes up for a lot of stuff. That’s what [this Thunder team] does. They play with energy, force and intensity for 48 minutes. Even with a lack of experience that can help you in many different areas just playing hard. I think that is what we did back in the day too," Durant explained.

To this point in the season, the Thunder have been able to handle any adversity thrown at with with an energy-filled and intense response. As evident by the fact as of March 29 the Thunder have not lost more than two games in a row.

This organization understands what it is like to be in this position, Durant reflected back on what it felt like as a young team handling such relative microwave success.

“We wasn’t thinking about nothing but just being good teammates and playing the game. I mean, the narratives and stuff it was hard for us to really focus on that. It was not as easy to hear all that, to hear the noise, so we was just focused on us. That is what all the good teams do. Just focus on the people that’s in the building. We didn’t even think about who we was playing, how young we were, we just was out there hooping. When you look back on it, we had that type of tunnel vision we was able to just block out all the bulls— and just play. " Durant said.

The former Thunder star even remember what led to the first iteration of Bricktown ballers gaining confidence and making a deep playoff run.

“Midway through that [2009-10] season we was like .500. I think we was like 20-17, something like that. Then we started going on a run where we won four or five in a row. We were beating good teams. I think once we had beat the Lakers I think, that is the team that was always beating us the two years prior. They had won championships, they were just the most experienced and better team. As the year went on we just started to play them better. Once we seen we started to play them better, that's when our confidence started to grow. We faced them that year in the playoffs too, and we gave them a long run in the playoffs and they went on to win a championship after that. That second back-to-back year so once we knew we could stack up against them in some way we felt confidence then the rest of the league we just cruised from there.” Durant recalled.

Part of that inexperience is on the sidelines in head coach Mark Daigneault who has yet to pace the sidelines for a seven-game series. While he has proven to be a quality regular season coach, the postseason is where bench bosses make the grade. However, the young coach has done enough to impress Durant already.

 "It is the trust, you can tell he trusts his players. He puts them in a position to succeed but also challenges them on the floor too. I'm sure he challenges all his players to go out there and do new things to try to expand their games even on the fly throughout the season. When you get that trust from your coach to just go out there and play your game regardless of mistakes I think you will see guys buy-in so it has been that way since day one. These guys have been on the same page, you can tell they have grown together." 

The Oklahoma City Thunder continue to scratch and claw for the top seed in the Western Conference ahead of their first playoff voyage. While many have concerns over their ability to contend this season, at least one NBA legend believes in their young core and coaching staff.

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