OKC Thunder shows off its youth in funny way after winning NBA championship
If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission. Pricing and availability are subject to change.
It's a wholesome anecdote for the second-youngest NBA champion when you think about it.
After the Oklahoma City Thunder won its first NBA title on June 22, most of the players didn't know how to handle the champagne party in the locker room.
Advertisement
It took 31-year-old Thunder guard Alex Caruso, who won the NBA title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, to teach his teammates how to open bottles of champagne.
"None of us knew how to do it," Isaiah Hartenstein said after the Thunder's 103-91 win against the Pacers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. "It was more like, you know those YouTube tutorials. We were just asking A.C. how to do it."
Get your Thunder championship keepsakes
LIVE UPDATES: OKC Thunder championship parade set to roll through downtown
Jaylin Williams wasn't a fan of his first beer
Meanwhile, Thunder center Jaylin Williams didn't give a ringing endorsement of what was apparently his first beer, a Michelob Ultra.
Advertisement
Pre-order our new Thunder championship book
More: Who will OKC Thunder pick in 2025 NBA Draft? Here's what mock drafts project
Jalen Williams 'gonna stick to Shirley Temples'
Jalen Williams also wasn't a fan of alcohol after the Thunder won the NBA Finals.
"I had a couple of shots, champagne, had beer," Williams told ESPN. "It was all disgusting. I'm gonna stick to Shirley Temples."
Time will tell if the Thunder will sing a different tune after Tuesday's parade.
More: How OKC Thunder won first NBA title: Relive playoff run by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander & Co.
Jeff Patterson is the sports editor for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Jeff? He can be reached at jpatterson@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @jeffpattOKC. Support Jeff's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com .
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder shows off youth in funny way after winning 2025 NBA title
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
36 minutes ago
- USA Today
Former Tennessee forward to play in NBA Summer League
Former Tennessee basketball forward Igor Mililic Jr. will play in Salt Lake City Summer League and the NBA Summer League. He signed with Philadelphia following the NBA draft. The Salt Lake City Summer League will take place July 5-8 in Salt Lake City, Utah and the NBA Summer League is slated for July 10-20 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Milicic Jr. played for the Vols during after the 2024-25 season after transferring from Charlotte and Virginia. In his one season at Tennessee, Milicic Jr. appeared in 37 games, including 37 starts. He is tied for fourth in most starts in program history. The former Vol averaged 9.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game, while playing 25.4 minutes per contest. He was the Vols' leading rebounder and defensive rebounder (4.8 per game). Milicic Jr. recorded a .472 field goal percentage, .315 three-point field goal percentage and a .735 free throw percentage. Mililic Jr. recorded four double-doubles and was fourth for Tennessee in made field goals (125). Follow Vols Wire on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Boston Celtics jersey history No. 23 - Ernie Barrett (1953-56)
The Boston Celtics have had players suiting up in a total of 68 different jersey numbers (and have three others not part of any numerical series) since their founding at the dawn of the Basketball Association of America (BAA -- the league that would become today's NBA), worn by well over 500 players in the course of Celtics history. To commemorate the players who wore those numbers, Celtics Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. With 25 of those jerseys now retired to honor some of the greatest Celtics to wear those jerseys, there is a lot of history to cover. And for today's article, we will continue with the second of three people to wear the No. 23, Boston guard alum Ernie Barrett. After ending his college career at Kansas State, Barrett was picked up with the seventh overall selection of the 1951 NBA draft by the Celtics. The Pratt, Kansas native would play the only two seasons of his NBA career with Boston, retiring from the league afterward. During his time suiting up for the Celtics, Barrett wore only jersey No. 23 and put up 4.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game. All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
How the NBA collective bargaining agreement is helping programs like Wisconsin
The Utah Jazz selected Wisconsin basketball wing John Tonje No. 53 overall in the 2025 NBA draft on Thursday. He joins Rutgers forward Ace Bailey and Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. as the team's three draftees. If the NBA's current collective bargaining agreement, signed in 2023, hadn't existed, there's a decent chance Tonje would've gone undrafted. Here's why. In 2023, the NBA Players Association and the league agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement, which featured a brand new and impactful rule: the second apron. This new rule was designed to help combat the rising trend of 'superteams,' with the most successful example being the Golden State Warriors, who won titles with Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and Klay Thompson all on one team. Advertisement The old CBA had a much softer salary cap than the new agreement, meaning that teams could go over the cap while only having to pay a small luxury tax as a penalty. That is different than other leagues, including the NFL, which has a hard salary cap and severe penalties for exceeding it. The new bargaining agreement and the 'second apron' rule aimed to limit the amount of money that franchises could spend on team-building. Some of those penalties include significant fines, teams not being able to trade first-round picks from seven years out and teams not being able to use cash in trades. Those are in addition to the numerous first-apron penalties as well. This idea sounds positive. However, it is having major consequences on the league. For example, many teams are so scared of exceeding the second apron that they are being forced to trade key rotation pieces or stars on their roster. The Boston Celtics were forced to trade both Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, two key members of their 2024 championship team. This past Tuesday, Nuggets general manager Josh Kroenke floated the idea of trading multiple-time MVP Nikola Jokic if the team come too close to exceeding the second apron. Instead of stopping teams from overspending, it is having an inverse effect which is causing NBA franchises to penny pinch. The reason why this affects college stars like John Tonje is that NBA franchises are in dire need of inexpensive, pro-ready rotational players that can fill the gaps that were previously filled by expensive role players. Teams can only afford a couple of high-profile players before they exceed the second apron, so many NBA franchises are filling the gaps with collegiate stars like John Tonje, players who can come in and fill a bench role for a few years before reaching free agency. We've seen this trend with many different teams in the NBA including the Los Angeles Lakers, who drafted 23-year old Dalton Knecht in the first round last year, or the Memphis Grizzlies, who drafted Zach Edey with the ninth overall pick. Advertisement Players like John Tonje who played well in March Madness and have NBA tools are being giving more chances by franchises that are tiptoeing close to the second apron and are in need of cheap, low-risk and high-reward players. While there were a record number of freshman drafted in the 2025 NBA Draft, there was also a high number of senior and super seniors drafted, including Nique Clifford, Walter Clayton Jr, Johni Broome, Ryan Kalkbrenner, Chaz Lanier, Koby Brea, and Brooks Barnhizer. Very few of these players would've been drafted just a couple of years ago and even fewer would've been drafted in the first round like Clifford and Clayton. This shift will be a positive one for college basketball programs like the Wisconsin Badgers, who tend to produce a ton of upperclassmen NBA talent. Next year, it is possible that both juniors John Blackwell and Nolan Winter enter the NBA draft process and eventually get drafted. The second apron might not be the most beneficial to the leagues' franchises, but it will definitely benefit players like Tonje and programs like Wisconsin who thrive on collegiate development. Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Why NBA CBA helps programs like Wisconsin, players like John Tonje
