Mark Daigneault led the Oklahoma City Thunder to their first-ever NBA Championship since changing their name from the Seattle SuperSonics.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have gone through a major rebuild since the departure of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
The front office put together a mostly home-grown roster that led them to the 2025 NBA Championship.
However, along with the roster, if there’s one person who deserves a plethora of credit, it’s none other than head coach Mark Daigneault.
Mark Daigneault’s NBA coaching experience
Daigneault initially began his coaching journey in the NCAA as an assistant coach with the Holy Cross and Florida basketball programs.
But in 2019, Daigneault made the transition to the NBA by joining the Thunder as an assistant coach. He remained in that role for just one season.
After all, the Thunder named Daigneault as the successor to Billy Donovan for the 2020-21 season. Considering the franchise entered a rebuilding phase, the Thunder missed the playoffs for three straight years under coach Daigneault.
However, the patience paid off as Daigneault led the Thunder to the first seed in the 2023-24 NBA season with a 57-25 record. Daigneault also won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award for that season.
A year later, Daigneault became the first head coach in OKC history to lift the Larry O’Brien trophy.
Mark Daigneault can do what hasn’t been done since 2018
Thanks to a young core, the Thunder will likely be a title contender for at least the next couple of years.
As the defending champions, Daigneault and the Thunder’s biggest goal should be to repeat last season’s success.
Speaking of which, this feat hasn’t been achieved since the 2017-18 NBA season. Yes, the Steve Kerr-coached Golden State Warriors were the last NBA team to win back-to-back championships.
Since then, fans have witnessed a new NBA champion for seven straight years.
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