NBA Finals 2012: What the Oklahoma City Thunder Have a Chance To Do

It’s not just because the Thunder have an opportunity to win a championship, nor is it just because they have an opportunity to take down the star-laden Miami Heat, it’s because by accomplishing both of those things, they set a new precedent.

The NBA’s landscape has changed. Once Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker became successful, the concept of a Big Three caught on, prompting the formation of a Big Three, and almost immediately after, core four in Boston, where the Celtics paired Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo with Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett.

But that actualization was different, and set the tone for a movement that wouldn’t happen immediately, but would shake the basketball sphere down the road nonetheless. The Celtics didn’t hone their powerhouse. Pierce and Rondo were in-house projects, but Allen and Garnett were brought in from other teams.

And so the madness began.

Following Boston’s format, Miami took it one step further, clearing enough cap space to stage the biggest free agent coup in the history of the NBA. Chris Bosh and LeBron James teamed up with Dwyane Wade in South Beach, to form a trio unlike any other.

And since then, the New York Knicks have followed suit, and the Brooklyn Nets are currently attempting to do so as well. But amidst all that scheming, the Thunder have quietly built an in-house powerhouse of their own.

Kendrick Perkins came from Boston, but Kevin Durant, James Harden, Serge Ibaka and Russell Westbrook, they’re all home-grown products. And that’s hardly something we see anymore. There’s so much pressure to forego rebuilding periods that teams decimate rosters through free agency and trades to attempt to get ahead.

But not the Thunder. They waited patiently, suffered through growing pains like any young franchise will, continued to improve each season, and came out the other side a championship contender.

If Oklahoma City overthrows Miami, it sets a new precedent, stating that championships cannot be bought or necessarily pre-meditated, but they can be attained through hard-work, devotion and a blueprint that consists of more than a day’s worth of work.

The NBA has come so far, for better or worse, from the days when it was all about building teams around draft picks and developing young talent. But the Thunder have a chance tear that dynamic to shreds and prove once and for all, that championships are more about familiarity and dedication than they are about All-Star appearances and dollar signs.

And whether you embrace the method of buying rosters or not, that’s a potential accolade you not only must acknowledge, but respect as well.