'People Take That S--t Personally,' NBA Execs Sound Off on Challenge of Beating Spurs, Thunder

Multiple NBA executives suggested this week that they are motivated by the challenge of building a team that can compete with the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Spurs and Thunder are currently tied 2-2 in the Western Conference Finals, and the team that emerges from that series figures to be favored to beat the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals.

Thunder-Spurs Highlights

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NBA draft lottery luck helped the Spurs build a roster featuring center Victor Wembanyama and guards Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, while OKC's development into a power began with the acquisition of reigning two-time NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers when he was still a young, unproven player.

Speaking to Howard Beck of The Ringer, an anonymous exec from an Eastern Conference playoff team gave their take on trying to compete with the NBA's elite teams, saying, "The notion that everyone is just gonna accept it is insane. Everybody that are in these jobs are competitive. They're not just gonna accept it. A team like San Antonio, who have gotten lucky to get generational talent multiple times [in the lottery], people take that s--t personally, and they have a drive to beat those guys. They're not gonna sit back and take a beating for the next 10 years."

A coach for a Western Conference playoff team suggested that they aren't afraid of the Spurs or Thunder, saying, "When I watch the game, I'm not watching it with any fear; I'm not watching it with a level of like, 'We're in a lot of trouble.' I'm watching it going: This is the standard. We're going to have to find ways to compete against these guys."

Another anonymous NBA exec echoed those sentiments, saying, "There's no time spent like, 'Oh, f--k.'"

Led by SGA, the Thunder have posted the best record in the NBA each of the past two seasons, and they are looking to become the first back-to-back NBA champions since the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018.

While Gilgeous-Alexander has taken home a ton of hardware recently, including two NBA MVP awards and the 2025 NBA Finals MVP Award, he is far from a one-man show.

Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams are also All-Star-caliber players, plus OKC gets contributions from a ton of quality depth players, including Ajay Mitchell, Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein, Jared McCain, Cason Wallace and Lu Dort.

The Spurs are similarly deep and talented, although the 7'4" Wembanyama is widely viewed as an all-time player who will keep San Antonio in championship contention for many years to come on his own.

An anonymous Western Conference general manager acknowledged to Beck that there is only one Wemby, but they also noted that it isn't stopping them from trying to build a team that can get the better of the superstar big man, saying, "You're not going to replicate Wemby. Generational talents like him come along once every quarter of a century. But I think our job as competitors, and I think the majority of the league would say it, is, 'OK, they're special, they're great, but it's our job to figure out: How can we put up a team that can compete against that and give us at least a fighting chance to unseat them?'"

Both the Thunder and Spurs are young and built to be top teams for a long time to come, but even the greatest teams bordering on dynasties don't win the championship every year.

There will be opportunities for other teams to contend and achieve championship glory, and it sounds as though many NBA execs are hanging their proverbial hats on that fact.