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How the Oklahoma City Thunder became the NBA’s villains

Why basketball fans hate the best team in the league

There are few things NBA fans can agree on. Is Michael Jordan or LeBron James the greatest player of all time? Do the Boston Celtics have the greatest legacy, or does that belong to the Los Angeles Lakers? Who’s the best player to never win a championship? These questions spur debates that have existed perhaps before some people reading this were born, and they certainly will continue long after everyone reading this has died.

But there is one thing that many NBA fans believe is true right now in 2026: The Oklahoma City Thunder must be stopped.

According to their critics, the Thunder are everything that’s wrong with the NBA. They flop and flinch at every turn, seemingly crumpling if someone breathed on them the wrong way. At the same time, they hack and whack their opponents on defense and are barely called for any fouls. They’ve turned this strategy into the winningest team this season and made what’s supposed to be a beautiful game unwatchable.

There is no team in the NBA more hated than the Thunder. No matter which fanbase you ask, they are the villains. They have people, many of whom have no allegiance to the great state of Texas, rooting for the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, which are happening right now.

But are the Thunder really that bad?

Why so many people think the Oklahoma City Thunder are ruining the NBA

When it comes to team sports, hate is not a strong word.

There are a variety of reasons why people hate teams, and it’s often rooted in allegiance to one’s own team and longstanding rivalries. Sometimes this is a matter of proximity and geography, like the way the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers can split allegiance among Midwest families or how the roughly eight miles that separate Duke and North Carolina have created college basketball’s biggest rivalry. Other times, it’s a matter of history. You see this with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics, or the New York Yankees and the Red Sox. (Sometimes people just hate teams from Boston, too.) And loathing can also stem from visibility and success, as any of the aforementioned........

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