Perkins It doesnt mean your best player is your leader When I was with the Thunder it wasnt KD it wasnt Russ it wasnt James I was the one leading

Sam Presti In this job as a leader what you want to do is build teams that you wish you could have been a part of and I feel that way about this era of the Thunder

Kenny Atkinson on Donovan Mitchell He was better than Donovan Mitchell is that possible He kept this thing together this year when things weren't going great -- the beacon the light the leadership

Sam Presti I'm more or less made a career from listening to people much smarter than meHe lists people he learned from Steve Kerr Stephon Jackson Malik Rose Manu Ginobili Kendrick Perkins Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Perkins Whether it's being out of shape or him dealing with some type of injurywhen it comes to being reliable Luka is starting to get in that territory of Joel Embiid When you need him the most and it comes postseason time he's not available and if he is available he is never close to 70

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got the entire Thunder team Audemars Piguet watches to thank his teammates for helping him win MVP

Kenny Atkinson James Harden is a good isolation defender I was a little more upset with our back line defense Everybody's putting it on James Sure some of it was him Sometimes micro experiences get exaggerated