Three years ago, Sam Presti from Oklahoma City made a promise. Maybe people didn't notice it because the Thunder team was not good. Also, he used words that were difficult to understand.

After the 2021-22 season, Presti said, "Labor omnia vincit." This is a saying from Oklahoma. It means "hard work wins everything" or "slow work wins everything," depending on what Presti wanted to say.

This applies to the Thunder, no matter what. They put in a lot of effort and were careful with their work.

They defeated all their opponents.

The Thunder used to be a bad team, but now they are the NBA champions! They won many games this year. They beat the Indiana Pacers in a tough final series. This is not good news for other teams. The Thunder have a great player, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is staying with the team. They also have new, young players who will join next season.

They are young. The players who start the games are about 23 to 27 years old. They are brave, and they will probably play well for a few years.

Gilgeous-Alexander said they can still improve a lot. He is happy about this because many players can get better. He said that most of the team aren't at their best yet. They can improve alone and together. He is excited about the team's future and thinks this is a good beginning.

They are starting to do well, and the timing is quite good.

Many teams have questions for next season, but Oklahoma City does not. Jayson Tatum, Damian Lillard, and Tyrese Haliburton have leg injuries and might miss most or all of next season. LeBron James will play his 23rd season. Stephen Curry will be 38 next season. Kevin Durant will play his 18th season for Houston. Philadelphia hopes Joel Embiid will be healthy. New York will get a new coach.

Oklahoma City appears to have everything organized and working well.

"Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said that this team has many good players."

Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren like to play together and help each other. They do not care who gets the credit. Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein play their roles well for the Thunder team. Luguentz Dort is a very good defender, and he knows that not everyone can see how good he is.

The players don't care about showing off, and the leaders don't either.

Caruso said, "You can't be sure of anything in this league. Teams can change often because of trades or injuries, and you can't control these things. Winning the championship is very special and hard. It's not easy to win every year. We will be ready to work hard and try to win again next year."

Presti planned everything, but he doesn't often speak in public. Clay Bennett, the owner, also doesn't speak much. And coach Mark Daigneault stays very calm, even when there are problems. He is a very good leader for the Thunder team.

Daigneault said, "You might not finish like we did. I really wanted them to win. I was very happy we could do it, and they can feel this because they earned it. They work hard, are professional, want to win, and always think of the team first. I really wanted them to have this.

The Thunder's journey is not finished; it's just starting. Presti has many future chances to pick new players, and the team has money to buy a new player if they want. Also, they have a championship they need to win again.

If you work hard, you can achieve anything. There is still more work that needs to be done.

Presti said in 2022 that they had a lot of work to do. He said they needed to work hard and get it done. He added that this is what their state, community, and basketball team are all about.