The San Antonio Spurs are still a ways away from competing for the NBA Finals, and Matt Bonner thinks the OKC Thunder will repeat as champions, even if that's a harder task now than it ever has been before.
The San Antonio Spurs are ahead of schedule. Originally billed as maybe a threat to make the playoffs, they own the fourth-best record in the Western Conference, mostly earned without Victor Wembanyama.
On top of that, they have enjoyed statement wins over the Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets. Are they ready to compete for the title? Probably not just yet, but they are ready to fight their way deep into the playoffs.
If it weren't for the Oklahoma City Thunder and their dominance this season--mostly without Jalen Williams--then the Spurs would be in the mix. Howoever, OKC is the heavy favorite to win the title.
The NBA season is a marathon, and the playoffs make things even harder. The Thunder went the distance in the Finals last year, beating the Indiana Pacers in seven games. The Spurs, during their 20-year run of dominance, never repeated.
Matt Bonner won two titles with the Spurs, and he knows that winning two in a row is a huge ask. However, he doesn't see anyone getting in the Thunder's way. He picked them to win the Finals over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who currently hold sixth place in the Eastern Conference.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Oklahoma City to repeat," Bonner told Betway's Jack Green. "I don't feel great about saying that because I was on two championship teams with the Spurs, and we kept the teams together the next season and were not able to repeat. It's just so hard. When you win an NBA championship, it is such a physical, mental, and emotional grind. You're playing for like another two-plus months after the season, where every other day you have an insane amount of pressure."
That pressure adds up. On top of that, teams start gunning for you all season long, hoping to build momentum with a statement win over the defending champs.
"You then have the bullseye on your back," Bonner added. "You're getting everybody's best shot every single night. I think that when you win the championship, you lose a little bit of that edge. It's really hard to maintain that same level of drive, especially when you're in a tough Western Conference where other teams are pretty close."
The Tim Duncan Spurs, with whom Bonner found great team success, were the model of consistency. Still, the closest they ever came to repeating was a Conference Finals appearance in 2008. After two of their Finals wins, the Spurs lost in the first round.
Championship hangovers are very real, and the fact that the Thunder aren't showing that should be terrifying for the rest of the league.