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          Sports world reacts to Thunder winning 2025 NBA Finals

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          Thunder celebrate winning the NBA Finals (1:23)

          Confetti rains down on the Thunder players as they celebrate winning the 2025 NBA Finals over the Pacers. (1:23)

          • ESPN staffJun 23, 2025, 03:17 AM

          The Oklahoma City Thunder capped off one of the most successful seasons in NBA history with one final piece of the puzzle on Sunday -- a championship.

          The Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers 103-91 in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals to clinch their first title since relocating to Oklahoma City in 2008. They are now the fourth team in NBA history to reach 84 wins in a single season, including playoffs, according to ESPN Research. Their final record, regular season and postseason combined, is 84-21.

          To make matters more impressive, Oklahoma City is the second-youngest champion in the shot clock era (since 1954) with an average weighted age of 25.6, behind only the 1976-77 Portland Trail Blazers (24.9).

          Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 29 points, 12 assists and 5 rebounds in the clincher and earned NBA Finals MVP honors. He is the fourth player in NBA history to win an MVP, scoring title and NBA championship in the same season (Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are the others). Gilgeous-Alexander had four 30-point outings in the first five games of the series, joining Rick Barry and Allen Iverson as the only players to do so in their first five NBA Finals games.

          Oklahoma City's title prompted reaction from around the sports world.

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