“2017 Warriors Would Have Mopped Them Up”: Former LeBron James Teammate Issues Bold Reality Check to Jalen Williams’ Eye-Popping Statement

The defending NBA champions OKC Thunder have been compared to numerous all-time great teams since ruling the league last season. While they continue to lord over teams this year, a former NBA player believes the current Thunder is still far from all-time squad conversations.

According to Channing Frye, who won an NBA championship alongside LeBron James with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, the Thunder would not win over the 2017 Golden State Warriors, or the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls, both of which are regarded as two of the best NBA squads in history.

"We all know like the 2017 Warriors would have mopped him up. The 95-96 Bulls would have gave him the business," Frye said in an episode of the Road Trippin Show with Kendrick Perkins, a former Thunder player. (From 36:04)

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This came as a response to Thunder star Jalen Williams' declaration that the Thunder would win against some of the former championship squads, including the Warriors, Bulls, and the 2019 Toronto Raptors.

"I'm always going to say my team," Williams said, when asked to choose between the current Thunder and another championship squad.

The Thunder won last year's title by going 68-14 in the regular season, before surviving two seven-game series in the playoffs, including in the NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers.

This year is more of the same for the Thunder as they currently hold the best record in the league with a 25-2 slate.

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Jalen Williams gets honest on the Thunder's chances of beating the 73-9 record of the 2016 Warriors

With the Thunder's astounding start to the season, many wondered if they could match or surpass the 73-9 record of the 2016 Golden State Warriors. For Williams, there is a chance but he insists it is not the team's goal.

“Is there a chance? Yeah, there’s a chance, I don’t know if that’s a goal,” the Tunder forward said. “I’m not going to say we can’t do it, either. Nobody likes to lose. We’re not going into these games losing. Obviously, there’s a bigger goal than the record." "It’s more so like, if we can go into every game and we can play those games and win them, and win them in a way that we’re comfortable winning, then, yeah. “At the end of the day, I’m not going to limit our team, but that’s not a goal.”

Williams has only appeared in eight games so far this season, after dealing with a wrist injury.

Nevertheless, he is a timely boost for the squad led by reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren.

Edited by Rob Andrew Lo