Brian Windhorst already reserved Thunder-NBA Finals dinner and it’s absurdly serious

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst is so confident in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s trajectory that he has already made dinner reservations for the NBA Finals — and he insists the preparation is no joke. Speaking on the latest episode of The Hoop Collective, Windhorst detailed his unusually specific planning based on his belief that the Thunder will finish the season with the league’s best record.

Windhorst revealed that his reservations are not for a generic postseason trip but for exact dates tied to the Thunder hosting Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 of the NBA Finals in Oklahoma City.

“I have indeed made my finals reservations in Oklahoma City and I did not make it for Game three, and four, and six. I only made it for Games one, two, five, and seven because I don’t think the games three, and four, and six are going to be there. Okay, because they’re going to have the best record. I went ahead this week and actually made a restaurant reservation. Not at Lake Hefner, but at a different restaurant that I know I’ll want to eat at, I made it. Because I know that the day after Game 1 I’ll want to eat there, and that’ll be a Friday night and it’ll be hard to get in, so I made it.”

Windhorst also noted that he has adopted a strict seating policy for these hypothetical Finals dinners, borrowing the idea from longtime San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich.

“And five, only five. I took this from Gregg Popovich. My dinner is only five. If somebody wants to I will allow a sixth person if it’s a spouse because when spouses are with their husbands or wives during the playoffs, I never want them to feel. So I’ll allow under that grace a sixth. And if somebody says I want to be like sixth, seventh, or eighth, I go, ‘Hey, go do your own dinner, I don’t need to eat with you, see you next time.’”

Thunder’s dominance reinforces Brian Windhorst’s confidence in another NBA Finals run

While the comments were delivered with a hint of humor, the logic behind Windhorst’s confidence is supported by Oklahoma City’s overwhelming on-court dominance. The reigning champions have opened the 2025–26 campaign with a 24–1 record and are currently riding a 16-game win streak entering their NBA Cup semifinals matchup against the San Antonio Spurs (17–7) on Saturday at 9 p.m. ET on Prime Video in Las Vegas.

The Thunder have built on last season’s 68–14 performance — a campaign highlighted by a historic +12.8 net rating — by producing numbers even more imposing this year. Oklahoma City ranks second in scoring at 123.6 points per game, trailing only the Denver Nuggets (125.5). Defensively, the Thunder have been unmatched, holding opponents to a league-best 106.2 points per game.

Perhaps most notable is their staggering +17.5 net rating, which outpaces last season’s mark and underscores why Windhorst believes home-court advantage throughout the postseason, including the NBA Finals, is well within reach.

With the Thunder’s blend of star power, roster continuity and top-tier efficiency on both ends of the floor, Windhorst’s early dinner reservations — while unconventional — reflect just how formidable Oklahoma City has become in the league’s early months.

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