SGA Buying All Of His Teammates Rolexes As A Thank You For Winning MVP Is A Great Sign For The Thunder's Title Chances

Garrett Ellwood. Getty Images.

If you've been watching the NBA season all year and had been following the discourse around the MVP Award, then seeing SGA walk away with the Michael Jordan trophy shouldn't have come as a surprise. We don't need to rehash the debate as to whether Jokic or SGA should have won as both guys had incredible cases and that's ultimately just how the cookie crumbled. Congrats to the Thunder and SGA on a historic season and a well deserved award nod. 

One of the things about the Thunder that makes them such a devastating basketball team to beat isn't just the fact that they have the MVP, an insane defense, great depth, and brilliant coaching. I'm a firm believer in chemistry, especially when it comes to championship contenders. You can have all the talent in the world, but if the chemistry isn't quite there and the fit isn't seamless, the talent won't matter. NBA history is littered with teams that had a shit ton of talent who ultimately fall short, and you can usually point to chemistry/fit issues as one of the factors.

But these Thunder? Their bond/chemistry is one of their superpowers. Part of that is being young and going through the battles together, growing as a unit through the ups and downs of NBA seasons. Championship-caliber chemistry within an NBA team is just something you know when you see it. Guys are willing to sacrifice whatever they may have to in order to win. Players want more for their teammates than they want for themselves. It's rare when you get it, but the teams that do often find themselves as the last team standing. 

Enter SGA's MVP, and his decision to reward his teammates like he was a QB rewarding his offensive line

I'm not a huge watch guy, but my guess is 10-12 Rolexes is pretty expensive. Something tells me SGA didn't only go with an entry-level Rolex, but I'll leave that up to the watch people to tell me that, actually, this isn't all that impressive. Is it safe to assume this was probably around 100K? I figure on the low end it's what, 5-10K per watch? Again, all I know about Rolexes is what my For You Page algorithm tells me, so maybe I'm even underselling it a bit. The point is, that's a pretty cool move for a guy that understands the role his teammates played in his success, and it goes back to that championship level chemistry that the Thunder very clearly have. Maybe I'm just not remembering, but I don't really recall previous MVPs doing stuff like this, so good on SGA.

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It also doesn't hurt that, ya know, he's about to sign the biggest contract extension in NBA history

Because he won MVP (and this would have applied to being named All-NBA this year), SGA is now eligible to sign a five-year $380M extension but would have to wait until the 2026 offseason.

Do we think he takes the 4 year extension this summer or waits for the $379M? I certainly know what their front office/owner probably hopes for given the new CBA, so it'll be fascinating to see if they are able to convince him to pull a Jalen Brunson and take around $100M less if it helps keep this team together moving forward once it comes time to extend the other parts of their core.

Either way, as you can see above, it sure looks like SGA won't even feel the dent that these Rolexes and gifts make. He basically recoups that total in one half of basketball given his current deal, so really there's no downside. No financial stress, it boosts the chemistry even more as the Thunder are right in the middle of a potential title run, and it has everyone feeling good ahead of tonight's super important Game 2. You may not think these things matter, but as someone who has lived through what having this type of chemistry can do when it comes to a title run, I couldn't disagree more. This stuff definitely matters, and it's something that directly translates to the basketball court. 

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If the Thunder end up being the last team standing and SGA wins Finals MVP, what do we think that gift looks like? I think at that point, you have to go full Vinny Chase like when they took down Spiderman