On Sunday Night, the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled off the ultimate season, topping it off with capturing the Larry O’Brien Trophy after an electric series with the Indiana Pacers. On Monday morning, the praise began to circulate all over the media space for the Thunder and deservingly so, but ESPN’s Jay Williams’ comparison caught my attention the most on Monday morning, which is making me think about it on a deeper level.
Williams on Get Up and First Take compared this OKC Thunder team to the Philadelphia Eagles by saying that the demeanor of SGA is similar to Jalen Hurts as a leader, and the two architects of the operation in Sam Presti and Howie Roseman! And Williams is on to something with these comparisons, let me dive right into it then.
The Two GMs
Both Presti and Roseman are long-time executives of their respective teams who took a long time to achieve glory in their respective sports. As Presti had multiple contenders and what people would call great teams and so did Roseman. Roseman found the blueprint of success at first in his sport with the 2017 Super Bowl Title. Both the Thunder and Eagles have built two Elite Rosters in their sports, the organic way, especially when it comes to the details of the homegrown aspects of the roster building, which Jay Williams would point out throughout the morning on the ESPN morning slate.
The MVPs
SGA and Jalen Hurts are the embodiment of what winning means to the world of sports, especially in their leadership styles is the perfect comparison. I will give Williams props for making this comparison in particular, as SGA and Hurts are the primary leaders of both of these successful franchises in their respective sports at this moment in time.
Both have answered all of the questions that the critics have laid upon their feet and answered the call in the big moments in the playoffs time and time again, especially Hurts. Both SGA and Hurts are on their way to the Hall of Fame in their respective sports, and both their 2024-25 seasons were a big stepping stone towards that outcome.
Final Thoughts
ESPN gets a lot of flack from time to time because of the quality as of late has gone down the tubes because of the people like Stephen A. Smith trying to make the story about them at times, but I will always have Jay Williams back as he is a bright spot as a analyst for the company and once again he has struck gold with coming up with this comparison between the Thunder and the Eagles.
We shall see if both teams can come up with a repeat, as both of them will be the favorites next season in their respective leagues. Total Apex Sports has plenty of NBA and NFL stories on the site for more consumption throughout the year.
