With the roar of a sold-out Paycom Center still echoing in their ears, the Oklahoma City Thunder finally hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy after a hard-fought 103–91 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Apart from the players’ smiling faces, what stole the social-media spotlight was the sight of the league’s youngest championship squad fumbling with champagne corks like wide-eyed novices in their locker room. Turns out this group still has plenty to learn when it comes to popping victory bottles.
Alex Caruso Takes the Lead to Save the Thunder Squad From Champagne Struggles
As the final buzzer sounded, the Thunder trooped to the locker room expecting a stylish celebration. Instead, cameras caught them fumbling with the champagne bottles, completely clueless about where to begin. Even the Finals MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, looked around his squad, equally clueless. After several failed attempts and dissecting the bottle corks, a few of the players eventually were successful in popping the champagne.
The clip was shared on X by @TheHoopCentral with the caption: “OKC players are struggling to open their champagne bottles while celebrating.”
OKC players are struggling to open their champagne bottles while celebrating.
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) June 23, 2025
This moment became a mandatory mention during the postgame media session. Caruso sheepishly explained what actually took place during their locker room celebration.
In a clip shared by the managing director of The Thunder Wire, Clemente Almanza, Caruso said, “We didn’t do it all at the same time until the third try. I tried my best when we got in there. All right, let’s get a head count, make sure everyone is here before we do the first one. Through the learning experience of taking the foil off, undoing the metal, having the cork ready, there’s three or four guys that popped their corks.”
He continued, “Then it happened again. We’re like, all right, we went through the process a couple times, and eventually we got everybody on the same page.”
Isaiah Hartenstein also mentioned how Caruso helped them figure out their way around the bottles, giving him a shout-out.
“I mean, first of all, none of us knew how to do it (laughter). It was more like YouTube tutorials. We were asking AC how to do it. It was not really in sync because no one really knew how to do it. Yeah, shout-out to AC for kind of teaching us how to pop champagne…We had to learn from AC. He did a great job giving us the tutorial. We’re grateful for him,” Hartenstein said.
Isaiah Hartenstein explaining that Alex Caruso had to teach them how to open champagne bottles and that’s why the celebration was so brief, why Tim Reynolds asked if he really didn’t know he said: “No, when I won in Lithuania they just drank hard tequila” pic.twitter.com/mf3iTYsJRk
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) June 23, 2025
Social media lit up as several fans retweeted the post, making the tweet go viral with over 140,000 views. Underneath the tweet by The Hoop Central, a fan wrote, “They turned the lights out so someone could YouTube How to open a bottle of champagne for paper champions.”
The jokes kept piling up as the fans were left in stitches watching the young OKC squad struggling with the bottles. One other X user made a joke, “What happens when your entire roster is supposed to be in college.”
Thunder Wins NBA Finals 103–91 Against the Pacers
After a tight first half that saw Indiana hold a 48-47 edge, the Thunder seized control in the third quarter behind the brilliant play of Gilgeous-Alexander. SGA poured in 29 points and handed out 12 assists, doing a bit of everything en route to his first Finals MVP nod.
Oklahoma City outscored the Pacers 34-20 in that very third quarter, fueled by Jalen Williams and a series of mid-range jumpers from Chet Holmgren. Williams finished with 20 points, while Holmgren tallied 18 points and eight rebounds.
The Pacers were dealt a devastating blow early when Tyrese Haliburton went down with a torn Achilles in the first quarter. Indiana’s floor general limped off the court and did not return. Before leaving, he grabbed three 3-pointers, tallying nine points.
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His departure from the hardwood left the Indiana Pacers scrambling to replace his 18.6 points and 9.2 assists per game average during the 2024-25 season. Meanwhile, Bennedict Mathurin led Indiana with 24 points and 13 rebounds, and T.J. McConnell added 16 points and six boards. Still, the Pacers coughed up 21 turnovers.
YOUR 2025 @NBA CHAMPIONS #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/e1PghAzHG9
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) June 23, 2025
After sealing their hard-fought victory, SGA was caught basking in his team’s glory. The Finals MVP said, “It doesn’t feel real. So many hours. So many moments. So many emotions. So many nights of disbelief. So many nights of belief. It’s crazy to know that we’re all here, but this group worked for it. This group put in the hours, and we deserve this.”
For now, the Thunder will savor every uncorked bottle while a grateful fan base basks in the glow of its first championship win after OKC moved from Seattle in 2008.
