The Oklahoma City Thunder had just won the NBA championship, the on-court ceremony was over and they were heading to the locker room to start the party. This typically includes the traditional spraying of champagne all over everyone and everything.
And the Thunder were ready to partake in all that.
“Where’s the champagne at?” some yelled on their way into the room.
It was ready. Problem was, the Thunder were not.
See, the Thunder are young, the youngest NBA champion in nearly a half-century. And, well, it turns out that most players had absolutely no idea how to pop the corks.
“None of us knew how to do it,” center Isaiah Hartenstein said, revealing that some players — yes, moments after winning the NBA title — were going onto YouTube in search of tutorials for how to make the bubbles fly.
Enter Thunder guard Alex Caruso, who has already won an NBA title. The oldest player on the team, at 31, showed everyone how to get it done. And eventually, they got it right.
“We didn’t do it all at the same time until, like, the third try,” Caruso said. “I tried my best.”
In time, they all figured it out. It was the last lesson of many this season for the Thunder, who finished with 84 wins — tying for the third-most in NBA history.
And the team could have all of its key players back next season; they’re all under contract. So, if the Thunder find a way to go back-to-back, Caruso expects the locker room celebration to go a bit more smoothly in 2026.
“We’ll get some rest, reset, try to go again next year and see if we can do it again,” Caruso said. “We’ll be better. We’ll be better next year.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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