Stephen A. Smith Believes This NBA Season Will Become Boring

Stephen A. Smith recently voiced what plenty of NBA fans may be quietly thinking: the Oklahoma City Thunder might be too good right now, and that's actually bad for NBA basketball.

Fans have spent years watching super teams form and crying about parity, which makes Smith’s comments a bit puzzling. The irony is that OKC did everything the "right way." No manufactured super team, no star chasing in free agency. Just smart drafting, player development, and Sam Presti playing with draft picks while others are playing checkers. They're the model franchise, and suddenly, people are complaining about how the Thunder are making the season boring.

“OKC is on the verge of making this season that I was looking very much forward to very, very boring. They’re just that dominant,” said Smith on ESPN’s First Take. “I’m sitting there like, ‘it doesn’t matter who they go against…’ It’s so dominant in OKC, even if you have the chance, with all the assets you have to get Giannis Antetokounmpo, why bother? You don’t need him. That’s how awesome they are…I just don’t know what to say.”

Smith isn’t the only one who has said that the Thunder have made the league boring, as Charles Barkley has also voiced his opinion on OKC’s dominance. Currently steamrolling 24 of their 25 opponents with suffocating defense and an offense that can score from anywhere on the floor, the Thunder have checked off all of the boxes. They're young, hungry, and stacked with assets for more moves.

Fans of a team enjoy a potential dynasty title, but average sports fans would rather have the uncertainty of the results of a game and not have the eventual champion be a given. When this happens, fans tune out, ratings drop, and the rest of the league begins to tank rather than bother to compete for a Finals spot that they likely wouldn’t win anyway.

Smith and Barkley’s comments might be premature. The league has seen dominant regular-season teams fall apart (remember the 73-win Warriors?). Injuries happen. Playoff basketball is different. The Pistons, Knicks, Celtics, Nuggets, and Lakers aren't going anywhere without a fight.

But the concern is valid. The NBA's appeal lives in its narrative drama, in underdog stories and close contests. If OKC is handing out 20-point losses on a nightly basis and running over everyone on their way to a second championship banner, we might be looking at history in the making, even if it’s kinda boring.