The Rise and Fall of NBA Generations
Much has been made of the Thunder as a quintessentially Zoomer champ. But when did prior generations gain — and lose — their grip on the league? And how long does Gen Z have?
If there was any doubt that the NBA now belongs to Generation Z, the Oklahoma City Thunder erased it for good last month when they won the first (of many?) championships for the franchise with its current core. Almost all of OKC’s key players are Zoomers, including team cornerstones Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (born 1998), Jalen Williams (2001) and Chet Holmgren (2002) — part of Gen Z’s 87.4 percent share of Thunder playoff minutes, easily the all-time record for an NBA champ.1
As my pal
pointed out before the Thunder-Pacers NBA Finals, that series was going to cement the first Gen Z champ no matter what, in terms of average minute-weighted age. And technically, the 2024 Boston Celtics were actually the first Zoomer champ in terms of their share of playoff minutes going to that generation (50.5 percent), despite the prominent performances of Millennials Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Al Horford and Kristaps Porziņģis. However you count it, the torch has now been fully passed.But when did it start to feel inevitable? And furthermore, when did Millennials first claim the league for themselves — and Gen X or Boomers before them? Let’s dig into the NBA’s generational timeline and see how each player cohort rose, peaked and ultimately passed the baton to the stars of the future.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Neil’s Substack to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.