Heartbreak City: Latest Thunder collapse nothing new
The curse of the Seattle SuperSonics lives on.
With the Golden State Warriors' comeback in the books, the Oklahoma City Thunder face yet another summer of self-doubt. It's more than just the haunting regret of dropping three consecutive elimination games - Kevin Durant is slated to become a free agent, and while it makes complete financial sense for him to return, he may not sign up for more heartbreak.
A squad once looked upon as Sam Presti's team of destiny has never felt its mortality so deeply. A future once bearing sweet dreams of championships galore has given way to nauseating nightmares that this promising core might not win together after all.
Should this iteration of the Thunder enter the annals of basketball history as the greatest team to not win the championship, they'll only be able to look back on the sequence of events that left them empty-handed. Since the franchise moved to Oklahoma City, it's been one heartbreak after another.
2012 - Losing to prime LeBron, moving Harden
The Thunder made their appearance in the Finals with a young but wickedly talented core of Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, and James Harden. They were inexperienced, but nobody could match their sheer athleticism. And while they just happened to run into LeBron James in his heyday, there was a feeling that the Thunder would return year after year.
They haven't made it back since.
That summer, they moved Harden, who was thought an expensive luxury at the $52 million he was seeking. The team had a chance to keep the roster together for a reasonable salary by amnestying the bloated contract of Kendrick Perkins, but opted instead to extend Ibaka and trade Harden for a boatload of prospects.
Steven Adams is the only prospect who remains from the deal, and the Thunder have been desperate for some bench help since dealing their Sixth Man of the Year.
2013 - Beverley takes out Westbrook
Shipping out Harden immediately came back to haunt the Thunder when they ran into Harden's Houston Rockets in the first round.
But it wasn't Harden himself who hurt the Thunder - it was defensive pest Patrick Beverley. While Westbrook called for a timeout, Beverley dove in for a steal after the whistle and took out Westbrook's knees.
Westbrook needed surgery and missed the remainder of the playoffs. Without their star point guard, the Thunder eventually fell to the Memphis Grizzlies in the second round.
Nevertheless, the Thunder won 60 games and had the best record in the West. So long as Westbrook made a full recovery, it looked as if a championship was still in the cards.
2014 - Ibaka goes down
Westbrook's knee didn't initially heal properly. He underwent two arthroscopic surgeries to reduce swelling within three months.
The Thunder still won 59 games thanks to the brilliance of Durant, who posted an MVP season for the ages. That season also saw the emergence of backup point guard Reggie Jackson, who grew into a strong starter in the absence of Westbrook.
Westbrook was able to return in time for the playoffs, but injuries once again struck at the worst time. Ibaka was sidelined for two games of the Western Conference finals with a calf strain, which allowed the San Antonio Spurs to build a 2-0 lead. The Thunder evened the series after a hobbled Ibaka returned, but a throwback performance by Manu Ginobili in overtime of Game 6 sealed the deal.
2015 - Durant breaks foot, Thunder derail completely
The injury situation only got worse after Durant suffered a broken foot in preseason. He'd end up playing just 27 games around three foot surgeries.
Westbrook also went down for a month. He would return to unleash a string of superhuman triple-double performances, but couldn't keep the Thunder afloat in the playoff race - especially after Ibaka suffered an injury in the last month of the regular season.
The Thunder watched the postseason from home after the New Orleans Pelicans took an improbable victory off the Spurs on the last day of the season to secure the 8-seed.
2016 - Finally healthy, still no championship
At last, the Thunder were fully healthy in 2015-16. But it was a bumpy ride. They made habit of blowing fourth-quarter leads (15 of them in the regular season), and although they finally got revenge on the Spurs, they couldn't close out a 3-1 series lead against Golden State.
The Warriors outscored the Thunder by 37 points in the fourth quarters of Games 5-7 as an amalgamation of their weaknesses caught up to them all at once.