Kirby Smart explains why he studied the Oklahoma City Thunder this offseason
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Kirby Smart doesn’t want his approach at Georgia to remain stagnant.
While speaking to reporters Tuesday at SEC Media Days, Smart revealed that his offseason study this year was the Oklahoma City Thunder, which won an NBA title in 2025 and advanced to the Western Conference Finals before falling to Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs to end its 2026 season.
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Following this, a reporter asked Smart to further elaborate on his comments about the Thunder and why he studies teams like them. Smart explained that he studies successful teams to be able to grow and evolve as a program.
What is this team doing right? How can we utilize this in our program? As for why he picked the Thunder, Smart noted that OKC’s selflessness stood out to him, and insisted that Georgia tries to emulate that selflessness within their program.
“We study successful programs all the time. If you’re not studying how other people are doing it and you’re just fixated on your own team and your own roster, I think you’re missing out,” Smart said. “We’re always trying to grow in our program. We don’t want to stay the same. You need to it study how other people are doing it and maybe the ways they’re doing it in creating roles for others. It’s very unique what the Thunder was doing, especially when they won the championship in terms of leading in so many categories, but most importantly selflessness. That’s what we try to emulate.”
Obviously, Smart knows a thing or two about winning championships. The Bulldogs won the national title in 2021 and 2022 with Stetson Bennett at the helm of the offense and a dominant defense to back him up. Georgia has made several CFP appearances since then, but has fallen short of another title. So far.
Smart begins his campaign to win title No. 3 on September 5, when the Bulldogs are set to face off against Tennessee State.
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
