The Oklahoma City Thunder have proven to be almost unbeatable in this 2025-26 NBA season, having posted a ridiculous 23-1 record after 24 games. There is talk about the defending champions potentially breaking the Golden State Warriors‘ record of 73 wins, set in 2015-16, and Kendrick Perkins believes they will.
Perkins, who played for the Thunder from 2011 to 2015, stated on the Road Trippin’ Show that his former team might only lose one more game the rest of the way.
“They’re trying to win everything,” Perkins said. They’re trying to win. They might go 80-2… This a real thing and I mean this with every big bone in my body. That 73-9 record that Golden State got? OKC beating that this year. Hands down… They’re not trying to go for it. They’re just that damn good.”
The Thunder could well end up breaking the record, but they’re not winning 80 games. While they have been blowing away teams for much of the season, we have seen them get into a couple of close games lately. Those did go the Thunder’s way, but you’d expect a few to go against them over the course of the season.
As for the Warriors, they were actually a bit ahead of the Thunder at the same stage that season. They got off to a 24-0 start, but then lost their next game to the Milwaukee Bucks.
While what the Warriors did was obviously spectacular, you could argue that the Thunder have been even more impressive so far. They were without Jalen Williams, their second-best player, for the first 19 games of the season and went 18-1. That shouldn’t be possible.
For some context, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson missed six games combined for the Warriors in 2015-16. The big guns were available night in and night out, and that hasn’t been the case for the Thunder. They very easily could have been perfect, too, despite not having a clean bill of health.
The Thunder’s only loss this season came at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers on Nov. 5. They had led by as many as 22 points in that game, but the Trail Blazers stormed back and won 121-119.
It should also be pointed out that, to go with Williams, Chet Holmgren and Alex Caruso didn’t play in that game either. The fact that they still only lost by two points shows just how good this team is.
The Thunder currently have a net rating of 15.9, by far and away the best in the NBA. They are on pace to smash the all-time record of 13.4 set by the Chicago Bulls in 1995-96. That Bulls team, of course, is regarded as the greatest ever as they went 72-10 and won the championship, something the Warriors failed to accomplish.
Will this Thunder team, led by reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, get over the line? You’d be a very brave individual to bet against them.
Draymond Green On Whether The Thunder Can Break The Warriors’ Record
The Thunder and the Warriors faced off recently on Dec. 2, with the former winning 124-112 to improve to 21-1. After the game, Green was asked in his press conference if he could see this team break their record.
“It’s hard, man,” Green said. “But I do think they’re capable. You just need so many things to go right, though. Health, which they kind of plow right through health. It really don’t matter, it seems. You need a lot of breaks, though, to go your way, but they’re on the right track, and like I said, they’re more than capable. I think 73 wins took some years off my life.”
These Warriors could hurt the Thunder’s chances of making history, as the teams will face off two more times this season. If Golden State can win even one game, they’ll make things just that little bit more difficult for Oklahoma City.
Those games are still some ways away, though. For now, it will be the Phoenix Suns who try to break the Thunder’s 15-game win streak when the teams face off in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup at Paycom Center on Wednesday at 7:30 PM ET.
