Three years prior, Oklahoma City Thunder General Manager Sam Presti proffered a commitment that, owing to the team's nadir and the opaqueness of his pronouncements, couched as they were in the argot of high-flown rhetoric, might easily have languished in the collective memory.

“Labor omnia vincit,” intoned Presti post-2021-22 season, invoking a Sooner State apothegm, its interpretation, contingent upon Presti's hermeneutics, oscillating between "assiduous toil triumphs universally" and "gradual endeavour achieves ultimate victory."

Regardless, the Thunder are subject to this axiom, having demonstrably engaged in both laborious and protracted endeavours.

Their dominion brooked no defiance; they subjugated all before them.

Having languished in the doldrums for three years following a meagre 24-win season, the Oklahoma City Thunder have ascended to the zenith of basketball, clinching the NBA championship after a protracted, seven-game Finals war of attrition against the Indiana Pacers, a development which should send shivers down the spines of rival franchises across the league, particularly given their MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, remains under contract, alongside the core of the team, for the foreseeable future, augmented by the latent potential of 2024 lottery pick Nikola Topic, sidelined this season due to an ACL rupture, and further bolstered by the acquisition of two top-24 picks in the impending draft.

Their nascent core, currently averaging a mere 25.2 years, evinces an audacious spirit, suggesting a prolonged and potentially dominant era of contention.

"Gilgeous-Alexander, garlanded with accolades ranging from regular season MVP to Finals MVP, and now, NBA champion, averred that their trajectory remained decidedly ascendant, postulating: 'The intoxicating aspect lies precisely in our unrealised potential; a significant cohort of us have yet to attain, or even approach, their zenith. Individually and collectively, our developmental arc is far from complete. This nascent triumph, while significant, merely constitutes the exordium of what promises to be a compelling and enduring saga.'"

Furthermore, the propitiousness of their achieving this level of operational efficacy cannot be overstated.

The league landscape brims with pre-season uncertainties for many franchises, a predicament conspicuously absent in Oklahoma City's case; meanwhile, the fates of Boston's Jayson Tatum, Milwaukee's Damian Lillard, and Indiana's Tyrese Haliburton hang precariously in the balance due to Achilles injuries portending extended or complete season absences, juxtaposed against the looming twilight careers of Los Angeles Lakers' LeBron James, embarking on his unprecedented 23rd season, and Golden State's Stephen Curry, entering his 38th year, with Kevin Durant, soon to be ensconced in Houston via trade, commencing his 18th campaign, while Philadelphia's championship aspirations are inextricably tethered to Joel Embiid's recuperative trajectory, and New York navigates the complexities inherent in a change of command on the sidelines.

Oklahoma City evinces all the hallmarks of a flawlessly calibrated urban entity.

"Pacers Head Coach Rick Carlisle posited that the team's roster boasts a surfeit of exceptional talent."

Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams, and Holmgren evince a palpable synergy, their on-court rapport transcending individual aggrandisement, whilst Caruso and Hartenstein have assimilated into the Thunder's strategic architecture with an almost preternatural fluidity; Dort, meanwhile, a defensive savant of the highest order, has seemingly reconciled himself to the prosaic reality that his contributions in this sphere are often beyond the ken of the average observer.

The prevailing lack of concern for self-aggrandizement extends beyond the players themselves, permeating the upper echelons of leadership with equal ubiquity.

"Caruso posited, with a seasoned gravitas, that the league landscape is fundamentally stochastic; a perennial oversight, he asserted. The composition of any given team remains susceptible to exogenous shocks – be they precipitated by trades, debilitating injuries, or other unforeseen contingencies. To attain the zenith of athletic prowess in this arena and secure victory is an achievement of unparalleled magnitude. The presumption of facile, annual replication is, frankly, an exercise in demonstrable naiveté. Let there be no ambiguity: we shall reconvene on Day 1, next annum, primed for iterative self-improvement and a renewed pursuit of this elusive accolade."

The architect of this ascendant edifice, Sam Presti, maintains a studied public silence, mirrored by the reticence of principal owner Clay Bennett, while Mark Daigneault, the team's laconic helmsman, navigates every exigency with imperturbable aplomb, proving the quintessential pilot of the Thunder's formidable machine.

Daigneault remarked, "There's no a priori assurance their denouement will mirror ours. My desire for their triumph was visceral; the elation at witnessing their attainment of this milestone, richly deserved given their approach, their consummate professionalism, their unwavering competitiveness, and their profoundly selfless team ethos, was utterly overwhelming."

The Thunder's odyssey is not concluded, but rather nascent, as Presti commands a formidable arsenal of draft capital and considerable fiscal latitude to strategically augment the roster, all whilst bearing the onus of championship defense.

Labor omnia vincit, but the Sisyphean task remains.

Reflecting on the arduous path ahead in 2022, Presti asserted, "We must immerse ourselves in relentless application and persevere. This ethos is fundamental to the very essence of this state, resonant with the historical narrative of this community, and deeply ingrained in the identity of this basketball team."