After Oklahoma City’s 123-118 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night, the conversation could have been about Zion Williamson’s career-high 32 points or the monster block that he had against Abdel Nader.
But on the show, Jalen & Jacoby, co-host David Jacoby wanted to talk about the Thunder.
Oklahoma City went into All-Star Weekend winners of seven of their last 10 and tied a franchise record with eight wins in a row on the road.
After seeing what the team has been able to accomplish so far this season, his fellow co-host, Jalen Rose said he wanted to “put some respect on Sam Presti’s name”.
“A lot of us thought he was foolish when we looked down at the paper and saw he was trading Paul George and Russell Westbrook in the same offseason. When you look at how this veteran-laden team is playing with an influx of young players, plus the assets they have going long term, that looks amazing.”
Rose also credited the Thunder’s continued success to the stability provided by head coach Billy Donovan.
“We’ve seen him coach a Big Three with Harden, KD, and Westbrook, and overcome all that. Victor Oladipo has been on and off the team. Paul George has been on and off the team. Until now having Gallinari, and Chris Paul, and Steven Adams, grizzled veterans that are going to show up to work. And then Schroder and our guy, SGA. And so now, they’re legitimately a playoff team and also a squad you don’t want to play.”
While Rose said he didn’t necessarily expect the Thunder to win their opening-round series, he believes OKC has “a chance to win a couple of games”, with both he and Jacoby agreeing that Oklahoma City is capable of taking their first-round series to a Game 6.
The conversation about the Thunder starts at the 1:30 mark.
Oklahoma City is currently sixth in the Western Conference standings. They’ll have a chance to gain some ground when they host the No. 2 team in the West, the Denver Nuggets on Friday, Feb. 21.
