This Thunder season isn’t just impressive — it’s the kind of start that makes you wonder if we’re about to see NBA history rewritten right in front of us. And this is where it gets really interesting: are we watching a fun early-season surge, or the birth of a run that could challenge the most sacred regular-season record in basketball?
Ten years after the Golden State Warriors set their jaw-dropping 73-9 mark, the Oklahoma City Thunder have stormed into the 2025-26 campaign with a 20-1 record, led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a deep, hungry roster. They aren’t just winning; they’re blowing the doors off teams and making a historically difficult pace look oddly routine.
Right now, what OKC is doing can’t be called normal or typical. It opens up all sorts of possibilities, fuels the imagination, and leads to two obvious questions every fan is quietly asking: where is this team going, and can it actually finish the job it has started?
This entire conversation revolves around one idea: the Thunder are flirting with history. When a team starts a season by winning 20 of its first 21 games — and does much of that without a key All-NBA teammate who has only just returned — it’s impossible not to start thinking about records and what might be possible.
With roughly a quarter of the regular season already in the books, their current pace would not only break the all-time wins record, it would smash it. Of course, those crucial words “at this rate” matter, because maintaining this kind of blistering performance for more than four months is incredibly difficult, maybe even unrealistic. But still — the door is open.
Almost poetically, the next opponent on Oklahoma City’s schedule is the very franchise that holds the record: the Golden State Warriors, owners of that 73-win season in 2015-16. Their upcoming matchup will naturally ignite comparisons, debates, and think pieces about how these two teams stack up across eras — and that discussion is absolutely warranted.
Back when the Warriors pushed past the previous standard of 72 wins set by Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, coach Steve Kerr — who played on that Bulls team — expressed genuine disbelief that the mark could ever fall. He compared it to Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak, one of those sports feats that feels untouchable.
After coaching the 73-win Warriors, Kerr repeated a similar sentiment: to beat that record, someone would have to go 74-8, and he just could not see any team pulling that off. Even now, looking at OKC’s scorching start, it’s clear why he called it such a massive challenge.
For the Thunder to merely tie that record, they would need to go 53-8 over the rest of the year. To own it outright, they’d have to finish 54-7. That’s a huge ask, even for a defending champion that is young, deep, and seemingly constructed to dominate for years.
And yet… there are legitimate reasons to believe OKC could make a serious run at this.
Here’s why the Thunder might actually set the record:
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: Just as Stephen Curry was the undeniable engine of that Warriors juggernaut — earning the first unanimous MVP in league history — Gilgeous-Alexander is the superstar at the center of OKC’s rise. He is following up his own MVP campaign with another season that, so far, looks just as strong, if not better.
His dominance is most obvious in the scoring column. He currently ranks near the top of the league and continues to pile up 25 to 30 points a night with a smooth, almost effortless rhythm. But the twist this season is how efficiently he’s doing it.
The big difference now: he often doesn’t need to play the entire game. Many nights, he’s done his damage by the end of the third quarter and can sit the rest of the way. That means extra rest, lower injury risk, and a fresher body for the grind of the season and the playoffs. It’s an incredible luxury: one of the NBA’s best crunch-time killers often doesn’t even need crunch time because the game is already out of reach.
As long as Gilgeous-Alexander stays healthy and continues enjoying this “three-quarters of work” pattern, OKC’s odds of chasing the record stay very real — especially now that one of his key running mates is back on the floor.
- Jalen Williams: Speaking of fresh legs, Jalen Williams has only just rejoined the lineup after recovering from wrist surgery, having missed the first 19 games of the season. He is still working his way back to full rhythm, which makes this Thunder surge even scarier for the rest of the league.
Williams has been open about the adjustment process. He knows he can immediately bring energy and effort on defense, but he also admits that regaining his shooting touch, ball-handling comfort, and overall feel after such a long layoff will take time. His jumper, his dribble, and his timing all need reps to fully return.
And remember who we’re talking about: Williams is coming off a breakout season where he averaged north of 20 points to go along with solid rebounding and playmaking. He elevated his game even further in the playoffs, capped by a 40-point explosion in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Having that version of Williams eventually ramp back up gives OKC another star-level weapon.
- The size advantage: In the frontcourt, Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein form a big-man duo that creates headaches for opponents. Offensively, they complement one another without clogging each other’s space, while on defense they serve as mobile, disruptive obstacles at the rim and in help situations.
For Holmgren, this season feels refreshingly normal after dealing with nagging injuries early in his career. He’s putting up strong numbers in scoring, rebounding, and shot-blocking — all without needing heavy minutes — which suggests there’s still more he could tap into if the team ever needed it.
- A strong, versatile defense: When all else fails, the Thunder can lean on their defense, and that safety net is rarely needed because they are so consistently solid on that end. Once again, they rank among the league’s best defenses and can come at opponents in waves.
Only a small group of teams has enough offensive firepower to truly stress OKC’s defensive schemes. The Thunder have multiple players who can credibly guard several positions, making it easier to survive foul trouble or injuries on any given night.
This is the same team that confidently put Alex Caruso on Nikola Jokić in a Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals — a bold matchup decision that shows how much they trust their defensive versatility and toughness.
- An almost unfair level of depth: This might be OKC’s biggest trump card. Shai gives them a superstar other teams may not be able to match one-on-one, but where the Thunder really separate themselves is in the depth department.
Across an 82-game schedule, that depth pays off. Coach Mark Daigneault can mix and match lineups, experiment with combinations tailored to specific opponents, and most importantly, protect his core players from being overworked. That flexibility helps sustain high performance over months.
Right now, Ajay Mitchell is the team’s third-leading scorer (at least until Jalen Williams fully gets up to speed), and Aaron Wiggins sits right behind him. Off the bench, players like Caruso, Isaiah Joe, and Jaylin Williams are consistently reliable and ready when their numbers are called.
It’s fair to ask: how many of OKC’s reserves would start on weaker teams? You could almost split this roster in half, send the “B” group into the Western Conference, and reasonably imagine them competing for a spot in the play-in tournament.
But here’s the other side of the story — and this is the part most people might be overlooking:
Why the Thunder might fall short of the record:
- Injuries: This is the big one. In truth, it might be the only serious threat to their record chase. Any significant injury to Gilgeous-Alexander would dramatically change the equation, and even losing multiple core contributors at the same time could derail things quickly.
On top of that, OKC has larger goals than just a regular-season record. The organization is focused on trying to repeat as champions, which means there will be times when preserving health and energy comes before chasing history.
The 2015-16 Warriors were built differently but made a similar impact because they stayed relatively healthy and fiercely motivated from start to finish. Curry and Klay Thompson were their only truly dependable scorers, yet the team still boasted strong depth and elite defense.
They opened that year with a staggering 24-0 start and later sat at 36-2. They never lost back-to-back games and dropped two out of three only twice all season. Their schedule looked like one long winning streak crashing into another.
As the record moved from fantasy to possibility to near certainty, Golden State fully committed to chasing it. They had to play 82 games anyway, so their mindset became: why not try to win them all?
However, that pursuit eventually turned into a burden. The expectations grew heavier, every loss felt magnified, and the mental strain was obvious by the time the postseason arrived.
Klay Thompson famously pointed out that the record would mean nothing if they did not finish the job in the playoffs. That warning proved prophetic when LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals to snatch the championship, leaving the Warriors with an unforgettable yet bittersweet 73-win memory.
Draymond Green later admitted he would not want to chase such a record again, a telling comment about the toll it took. In the aftermath, Golden State signed Kevin Durant, adding another superstar to an already loaded roster. Interestingly enough, in the current landscape, OKC holds the Clippers’ 2026 first-round pick, which could land in the lottery — a reminder that the Thunder’s present and future are both bright.
Schedule and stakes: OKC’s upcoming schedule sets up an intriguing scenario. Over the next few months, the path is relatively favorable on paper. They don’t face the Denver Nuggets, arguably their biggest Western threat, until February 1. The Houston Rockets appear on January 15, the Los Angeles Lakers don’t show up until February 9, and the East-leading Detroit Pistons arrive on February 25.
At the back end of the schedule, if the record is within reach, things tighten up. In the final 10 days, the Thunder are slated to play the Lakers twice, the Nuggets once, and then close the regular season against the surprisingly strong Phoenix Suns. If history is on the line by then, they may need to finish with a flourish.
Until that moment arrives, though, they will continue to enjoy the benefits of their 20-1 launch. The cushion they’ve built gives them margin for the occasional off night, while still keeping them in range of the record.
Coach Mark Daigneault has been clear about the team’s priorities: he wants the Thunder to build a foundation of relentless competitiveness and genuine togetherness on both offense and defense. The goal is for anyone watching to come away thinking, “That team really plays for each other.” So far, they’ve lived up to that vision.
And now the big question shifts to you: should OKC go all-in on chasing 74 wins if the opportunity becomes real, even if it risks adding pressure and fatigue before the playoffs? Or should they play it safe, protect their stars, and focus purely on hanging another championship banner, even if that means letting the record go? Do you think a regular-season record is worth the potential postseason cost — or did the Warriors’ 2015-16 lesson prove that some history just isn’t worth repeating?
