There are few names in the NBA as fitting as Oklahoma City’s versatile guard, Luguentz Dort. Known to NBA fans as “The Dorture Chamber” for his suffocating defense, Dort makes opposing players feel like there’s no escape from his relentless pressure. However, Dort’s path in the NBA didn’t always look like it would lead to a pivotal role on a championship-contending team.

Who is Lu Dort?

Lu Dort was born in Montréal, Quebec, in an area known as Montréal-Nord. Dort’s first love was soccer, but at the age of 12, he decided to take basketball more seriously and began training daily at a local gym. Inspired by his older brother and others who played for a local streetball club, Dort says the game gave him a sense of belonging and a way to represent his community. Not only did basketball create a space for Dort that was bigger than himself, it also kept him away from the temptations of his environment, keeping him engaged both on the court and in the classroom.

“I could’ve gone down another path—gangs, and all that. Some friends did, but I was so focused on sports, I was at the gym late into the evening instead,” he told reporters.

From the Great White North to the Desert

That other path led Dort from his home country to the United States to face more competitive talent. In high school, he played at several schools across the country before returning to Canada to finish his senior year as a five-star recruit. Dort would go on to play at Arizona State, where he won Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and was named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team.

After a successful freshman season, Dort declared for the 2019 NBA Draft and was projected to be a first-round pick. However, things didn’t go as planned. Dort wasn’t drafted at all.

After the draft, he received a call from Thunder GM Sam Presti offering him a two-way NBA contract, an opportunity to play for both the NBA team and its G-League affiliate. Reflecting on that moment with The Players’ Tribune, Dort said:

“In my head, I was just like, Any opportunity, I’ll take it. But I won’t lie, it was hard going through that. I was embarrassed. I cried when I went back to my hotel room. I was still crying the next day on the way to Oklahoma City. I was just going through so many emotions. I was pissed off. I wondered what went wrong. And I couldn’t really get a clear answer. I started to doubt myself. I was in my head like, Am I not ready for this? Am I not good enough?”

Thunder Up

It wasn’t long before Dort proved he had what it took to succeed in the league. In Game 7 of the 2020 playoffs, Dort scored 30 points with 1 assist, 4 rebounds, and a block while serving as the primary defender on James Harden, who recorded his lowest scoring game of the playoffs with just 17 points.

Heading into the offseason, one weakness in Dort’s game became glaringly obvious: his three-point shooting. Teams would leave him open beyond the arc, daring him to shoot. Over the next six years, Dort improved his three-point percentage from 29 percent as a rookie to over 41 percent.

After the 2020 season, the Thunder entered a rebuilding phase, winning only 22 and 24 games in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. During that time, they were the youngest team in the league. Over the next four seasons, the team evolved into one of the NBA’s best. In 2025, the Thunder went 68 and 14 and were considered one of the greatest defensive teams of all time. That year, they led the league in defensive rating, had the lowest opponent shooting percentage, and forced the most turnovers per game in the regular season. They carried that dominance into the playoffs by forcing 18.2 turnovers per game.

That elite defense, combined with the league’s top-ranked offense, led the Thunder to the NBA Finals where they defeated the Indiana Pacers in seven games. With the victory, the Thunder became the youngest championship team since 1977 and brought home the city’s first NBA title.

@94feet24seven The Dorture Chamber #ludort #okc #28yearslater #nbaedits #nba #fyp #explorepage #explore #foryoupage #fypシ ♬ original sound – mia

From Undrafted to Champion

In just six years, Dort went from an undrafted player wondering if he had what it took to make it in the NBA to an NBA champion.

What can we learn from his journey?

The first takeaway is that Dort chose to stay on the right path. He could have done what many of his friends did and gotten involved with the wrong crowd, but he made the choice to stay focused on his basketball dream. In life, we all face decisions that separate us from those around us. If we want to reach our goals, we have to be willing to make those tough choices.

Second, Dort saw a weakness in his game, his three-point shooting, and attacked it head-on, turning it into one of his strengths.

If we can have the discipline to stay on the right path, and the self-awareness to not only identify our weaknesses but put in the work to improve them, like Dort did, we too can become champions not just on the court, but in life.

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