The NBA common season is within the rearview, the playoff bracket is set, and for the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, the journey again to the mountaintop actually begins.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will understandably command a lot of the highlight. The reigning NBA MVP – who is the frontrunner for the award but once more – is having a 31.1 ppg season, his fourth straight 12 months averaging over 30 a recreation.
But because the outdated adage goes: Offense wins video games, protection wins championships.
And that’s the place Lu Dort steps in.
The 6-foot-4 guard – who was chosen to the NBA All-Defensive First Team final season and placed fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting – was a key cog within the OKC crew that lifted the Larry O’Brien Trophy as their major defensive stopper.
This season, the Thunder – who clinched the No. 1 seed in a troublesome Western Conference for the third straight season with a league-leading 64–18 document – unsurprisingly additionally had the No. 1-ranked defense but once more, with a ranking of 106.5.
And regardless of having a plethora of choices to make the most of on the defensive finish alongside Dort, together with 7-foot-1 Chet Holmgren and the ever-improving Cason Wallace, head coach Mark Daigneault nonetheless positioned the hardest assignments on the just lately turned 27-year-old’s broad shoulders.
The child who sat within the crowd and didn’t hear his identify referred to as at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on draft night time in 2019 hasn’t executed too unhealthy for himself.
“My journey wasn’t easy,” Dort informed NCS Sports forward of the playoffs. “There’s not numerous youngsters that make it to the NBA from Montreal, so simply that step was massive.
“And the truth that this group and (Thunder Executive Vice President & General Manager) Sam Presti trusted in me once I went undrafted and gave me an opportunity.
“It’s been a lot of blocks, and I’m trying to step over them every time. But if I had to talk back to the younger Lu as of right now, I’m real proud of him.”
For Dort, it’s about extra than simply making an affect on the hardwood. The journey from undrafted prospect in 2019 to changing into an NBA champion in 2025 was solely half the story.
He was born and raised in Montreal – particularly in a borough referred to as Montréal-Nord – to folks who immigrated from Haiti to Canada of their 20s. As he wrote in The Players’ Tribune: “Seeing everything they had to go through to start a new life, I learned that everything has to be earned through hard work. Nothing’s given. Words I live by.”
To perceive the place Dort is now, it’s important to perceive the place he got here from. The aggressive fervor he brings to the courtroom each night time can’t be taught; the get-it-out-the-mud mentality he has can’t simply be developed like getting photographs up within the gymnasium – you both have it otherwise you don’t.
That hearth inside Dort was lit approach again within the spring of ’99.
“Basketball was my way out,” he mentioned in The Players’ Tribune. Now, he’s utilizing basketball to present again by means of The Maizon Dort Foundation, a company he set as much as help underserved communities in Montreal, Oklahoma City, and central Arizona, the place he spent a 12 months in faculty with the Arizona State Sun Devils in 2018.
“When I made it to the league, my biggest goal was to go back to my community and give back,” he informed NCS.
“I didn’t suppose I’d be on this place sooner or later. And I really feel like once I was younger, I want I’d have been a part of any person’s basis, or neighborhood occasions that might stick (with me) for the remainder of my life.
“So whenever I have a chance to give back to my community, I always do it and it’s always great to do it.”
Dort’s basis not solely supplies alternatives by means of sports activities, but additionally by means of inventive expression and educational help – as a result of there’s one other aspect to the grit and grind of that fierce competitor we see on the courtroom.
The foundations first “Pitch Day,” hosted on April 3 in Oklahoma City, highlighted the duality of Dort. With the NBA star in attendance, organizations introduced concepts for “Creation Stations,” with the winner receiving as much as $20,000 in funding to help native college students.
“I’m a learner, and I’m really curious to learn a lot and create at the same time,” he defined.
“Obviously, I’m a basketball participant, however there’s far more in life. Kids don’t need to be simply athletes, they need to achieve this far more, and creativity is a giant a part of life normally.
“So to be able to open that door for them is great and I’m really big on that. The Pitch Day was amazing and some of the stuff presented was great.”
For those that do need to attempt to comply with in Dort’s footsteps and pursue professional sports activities, the 27-year-old hosts an annual basketball camp each summer season by means of his basis, fittingly referred to as the “Lu The Beast Camp,” which has run yearly since 2021.
This summer season, nonetheless, seems set to be particularly busy for him.
The NBA star has a deep ardour for soccer – a sport he performed rising up in Montreal earlier than selecting up basketball – and the timing couldn’t be higher.
The upcoming FIFA World Cup is not solely being co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and his beloved Canada, however he additionally has two horses within the race, as Haiti has additionally certified for the match for less than the second time, final showing on the Beautiful Game’s grandest stage again in 1974.
“Obviously, both of my countries are in, so if I have the chance to go to any game – especially Canada or Haiti – I would go.”
“I additionally know a pair gamers. Me and (Haiti striker Duckens) Nazon have been cool for a very long time, and (Bayern Munich defender) Alphonso Davies is the largest star in soccer in Canada proper now.
“Soccer is massive, particularly the World Cup. I really feel like at a younger age all people used to observe the World Cup.
“So now, it’s not too far in America and Canada, it would be great to go see them play.”
And if Dort’s offseason schedule wasn’t busy sufficient, he additionally likes to make use of that point to lean into one other ardour of his: vogue.
“I’m into fashion a lot. It’s another side of creativity of mine,” he highlighted.
“I’m trying ahead to attending reveals (in Paris and New York), and persevering with to discover manufacturers like Thom Browne, Willy Chavarria, Ralph Lauren, Rick Owens, Calvin Klein, and others.
“To see a few of these manufacturers, how they be rolling and the way they work, could be superb.
“We’ll see how the season ends, but I would definitely like to go over there.”
Keeping give attention to the primary factor
A basis supporting underserved youths throughout two international locations; a well timed ardour for soccer with two nationwide groups enjoying at this summer season’s World Cup; and a love for vogue that may take him inside just a few ft of runways within the US and throughout the Atlantic.
It’s a lot greater than basketball for Lu Dort.
But by means of all of it, he by no means forgets what put him within the place the place he is right now. “I don’t get a lot of stuff I got now without basketball – basketball is always going to be number one no matter what,” he defined.
“I try to try to remind myself of that every single time. It’s really a mindset, a focus.”
That focus now shifts to Game 1 in opposition to the Phoenix Suns at Paycom Center, the place OKC’s raucous followers might be riled up and prepared.
“I mentioned so many instances we’ve got one of the best followers and area atmosphere in the entire league.
“They know how much we care about them, and we know how much they care about us. It’s so fun to play at home. The energy they bring is crazy. We just love it.”
And they love him. Because, as famous earlier, this is a get-it-out-the-mud kind of man.
“Earned not given” – the mantra he lives by.
So beware when driving to the basket – that deal with higher be further tight. Have your ft firmly planted and hold your head on a swivel when setting that display. And be prepared to drag the set off further rapidly from past the arc – as a result of “The Dorture Chamber” is again for enterprise. Not that it was ever closed, nevertheless it runs a bit in another way this time of 12 months.
“What we did final 12 months was massive, however we’ve got an opportunity to do it once more and, clearly, we’ll go for it.
“I’m proud to be on this team. Proud of some of the stuff we’ve achieved so far, and proud of some of the stuff we’ll achieve again.”
The playoffs are right here and Dort & Co. simply clocked in. Good luck stopping them.