Stephen A. Smith offers a rare APOLOGY to OKC's 'special' GM Sam Presti as his impressive young Thunder team begins to take the NBA by storm

ESPN star Stephen A. Smith gives Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti his comeuppance.

Since Oklahoma City was the fourth-best team in the NBA, Smith admittedly ate crow before the Thunder’s game against the Atlanta Hawks.

‘I don’t apologize often. But Sam Presti – on national television – I’m going to say this: I, Stephen A. Smith, owe this man an apology,” Smith said.

“I don’t care about the championships right now. That’s not possible if I’m a Knicks fan. I can tell you this: to have fifteen choices, to have that selection, to have them so young, to play at this level…

‘The man is a special director. And you won’t hear any questions from me about him, about him.’

Presti has done a fantastic job building the Thunder into one of the top teams in the league

OKC is led by a young core of players like Chet Holmgren (L) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (R)

The Thunder are doing well thanks to elite play from a talented young core.

Guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads the league in steals with 2.6 per game and is currently third in the league in points – an average of 31.4 per game.

Rookie Chet Holmgren is also making a name for himself, as a power forward averaging 2.7 blocks per game – good for fourth in the league.

In addition to Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren, three other players are averaging more than ten points per game: forward Jalen Williams and guards Josh Giddey and Luguentz Dort.

But the Thunder’s young center group isn’t the only reason to be excited about the future: Oklahoma City has the deepest roster in NBA history.

Thanks to trades, the Thunder will have a total of 36 picks between 2024 and 2030, as well as an option to swap picks.

In total, that’s 15 first-round picks and 22 second-round picks – to use as assets for trades or a great way to build further success in the future.