Alex Caruso on Thunder motivations to win championship: 'If you win, everybody gets paid'

USA Today

12-07-2025

Nothing sweeter than the offseason following an NBA championship. You enjoy a nonstop press tour throughout the summer. Everybody wants you on their show. They want to know about your journey to being a ring holder. Players get a chance to run a victory lap after a victory lap.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are experiencing that for the first time. After they won the Larry O'Brien trophy to cap off one of the greatest seasons ever, they've had the chance to party it up in the offseason. They'll enter next season as a favorite to repeat.
As the lone player on the Thunder roster to have a championship before June, Alex Caruso talked about the behind-the-scenes of their voyage to the mountaintop. The 31-year-old appeared on the "Dan Patrick Show" to discuss his first season in OKC and how he played a vital role in its playoff run.
Besides achieving basketball nirvana, Caruso said the Thunder were also motivated by the second contract they're within grasp of. At the end of the day, the NBA is a business. You're trying to get as much money as you can out of the machine before your career is cut short. The two-time NBA champion understands the amount of cache a title buys you for that.
"I think there are enough examples throughout the history of basketball and the league, if you win, everybody gets paid," Caruso said. "Even the team in 2020 that won the 'ship for us in the Lakers. A couple of guys didn't get brought back, but they got paid other ways."
Caruso listed off several Lakers role players who looked like they were about to exit the league for good before their 2020 Bubble Run bought them some extra runway. He mentioned Rajon Rondo, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Danny Green and JaVale McGee all received reputation boosts as veterans with championship experience. Those are the intangibles teams always look to add to their locker rooms.
The Thunder are a little different than that veteran Lakers squad. They were the second-youngest champion in NBA history. So instead of a bunch of older players clinging onto their careers, their roster was filled with guys on their rookie-scale deals who are due up for an extension.
Even though the context is a shade different, the principle remains the same. The Thunder have ponied up this offseason after a championship run. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren all received contract extensions this offseason. But so did Jaylin Williams and Ajay Mitchell.
"Everybody on a championship team gets an opportunity and gets paid. I think convincing the team that's how it was going to be," Caruso said. "It was unique too, with such young guys that all have big aspirations and goals and ambitions in the league. Really impressive, honestly."
If you play winning basketball, that will always help a player get paid. That wasn't the primary motivation to win a championship. That's an accomplishment in itself. But it's still a nice bonus to accomplish something every fanbase hopes to see at least once in their lifetime.