I flirted with disaster in Oklahoma City.
I wasn’t initially planning to tell this story, but it has felt relevant to me throughout a compelling NBA Finals between the Thunder and Pacers.
It happened after Game 1 in OKC, when the Nuggets pulled off a heist for the ages. Chet Holmgren’s missed free throws and Aaron Gordon’s game-winning 3-pointer in the ensuing chaos had sent my game story into a death spiral. (I refuse to read whatever my fingers regurgitated in those next 90 seconds to make deadline. Please read this piece I wrote about Gordon later that night instead, with fantastic insight from someone who factors prominently in the story I’m about to tell.)
The visiting locker room was understandably buzzing with excitement. Two nights after facing elimination in the first round, Denver suddenly possessed a series lead against the No. 1 overall seed in the NBA Playoffs. I was standing in the doorway, waiting on postgame interviews, when Makalah Emanuel of the Nuggets’ media relations staff approached me to talk trash, all in good fun. “What is it you wrote? Thunder in five?”
It’s true. In our Denver Post staff predictions for the series, I went with a 4-1 OKC victory. Without really thinking, I replied to Makalah with a smart-aleck comment, something along the lines of “still technically possible.”
Turns out Nuggets guard Christian Braun was rounding the corner into the locker room as this exchange occurred. He overheard the whole thing.
Anyone who’s ever covered a team will tell you that accountability to the people you cover is important. When part of our job is to hold athletes, coaches and executives accountable, then it’s only fair to make ourselves available to them if and when they take exception to something written.
Braun is a consummate pro when it comes to the media, always gracious with his time after wins or losses, honest about his goals and quick to own up to mistakes. I’ll even admit that he was a good sport when I taunted him a few months ago, after my alma mater’s basketball team (Missouri) pulled off an upset against his (Kansas, ranked No. 1 in the country at the time, might I add) in their annual Border War rivalry game.
Point is, Braun had every right to give me a hard time about my prediction, and he did. In particular, he was offended by my rationalization that “Thunder in five” was still on the table. He had a point there: Stealing Game 1 on the road had pretty much eviscerated any pre-conceived notion that it would be a short series.
Nonetheless, I owned it. I explained to him that my pick was an objective assessment that didn’t have anything to do with doubting Denver’s capabilities; it was really based on how dominant the Thunder had been all season, not to mention how rested they were after a first-round sweep.
And in the interest of being a good sport, I agreed to a deal he suggested to hold me accountable: If the Nuggets won the series, I was to wear a KU shirt to five future practices — one for each game I predicted the series would last. I told him I would take no pleasure in being right and that I would gladly accept being proven wrong, even if I couldn’t stomach the idea of wearing enemy apparel. (What even is a Jayhawk?)
You know what happened next. The Nuggets fought valiantly against a team that won 18 more games than them. They briefly took an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter of Game 4, with an opportunity to go up 3-1 in the series. But Oklahoma City was overwhelming. Its role players bombarded Denver’s zone with timely 3s. Its defense and depth finally prevailed in Game 7, back at the scene of the Game 1 crime.
The Nuggets were obviously disappointed in defeat, but they also allowed themselves to feel proud of their playoff run under unusual circumstances. I admitted to Braun that my prediction was still off-base.
Two thoughts kept swirling in my head throughout the Finals. One is that OKC continued to feel inevitable to me while watching a series play out in eerie lockstep with the second round. Indiana completely hoodwinked the Thunder in Game 1 with a fourth-quarter comeback and a last-second shot created out of advantageous disorganization. The Thunder won Game 2 convincingly, fell behind 2-1 on the road and trailed by seven in the fourth quarter of Game 4.
Then just when you thought inexperience or whatever else had caught up, the Thunder pounced and the series was tied. Home-court advantage was restored. Momentum, reversed. Control, returned to the better team on paper. Sound familiar?
As well as they had played, I was never convinced for a second that the Pacers were going to finish the job in Game 4. And that wasn’t an indictment of them. It wasn’t disrespect. They’ve been the most enjoyable playoff team to watch this year, a unique and deserving Eastern Conference champion. But the Thunder just felt inevitable. I haven’t been able to shake that feeling at any point this season. Game 4 underscored that “OKC in five” was all about that feeling — not about the Nuggets.
The other thought was that regardless of outcome, Indiana joined Denver in proving me wrong. Entering the Finals, I thought a sweep was far more likely than a six- or seven-gamer. Instead, two somewhat overlooked playoff teams have now revealed a glimpse of mortality beneath OKC’s record-setting exterior. I’m fascinated by the extent to which the young Thunder will be regarded as a juggernaut this offseason, as other contenders assess their 2026 championship potential.
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With my playoff picks, I’ve been forecasting the former. But after watching the Nuggets and Pacers put up such convincing fights, anyone would be justified in believing 2026 is still wide open. Maybe I was wrong in the grand scheme of things, too. Or maybe Oklahoma City will feel inevitable for the next half-decade.
Either way, at least I’ve avoided the humiliation of that Kansas shirt.
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