Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder are a professional basketball team competing in the NBA's Western Conference, with a rich history that began in 1967 as the Seattle SuperSonics. The franchise achieved significant success in the late 1970s, winning an NBA championship in 1979. In 2008, due to financial challenges and arena issues in Seattle, the team relocated to Oklahoma City and was rebranded as the Thunder. This new chapter saw the emergence of a formidable lineup featuring stars like Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden, who collectively led the team to the NBA Finals in 2012.
Despite their early promise, the Thunder faced challenges after the departure of these key players, yet they remain competitive in the league. As of the 2023-2024 season, a new generation of talent, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and rookie Chet Holmgren, is revitalizing the franchise, reigniting fans' hopes for future success. The Thunder play their home games at the Chesapeake Energy Arena and have a dedicated fanbase that reflects the vibrant sports culture of Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Team information
- Inaugural season: 1967
- Home arena: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- Owner: Professional Basketball Club, LLC
- Team colors: Thunder blue, sunset, yellow, and navy blue
Overview
The Oklahoma City Thunder is a professional basketball team that plays in the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Western Conference. The franchise originated in 1967 in the Pacific Northwest as the Seattle SuperSonics. After slowly building a competitive team over the next decade, the SuperSonics reached back-to-back NBA Finals in the late 1970s, winning a championship in 1979. Despite an enthusiastic fanbase and some success on the court, the franchise had difficulty securing the funds for a new arena in Seattle. As a result, the team was moved to Oklahoma City in 2008 and rebranded the Thunder. In the early 2010s, the Thunder had one of the league’s most exciting teams, featuring three young stars who would each go on to win an NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award. However, despite making one NBA Finals appearance, the Thunder never realized their potential, and by 2019, the trio of superstars had moved on to other teams.
History
In the mid-1960s, the NBA consisted of nine teams, with only two located west of St. Louis, Missouri. Then, in 1966, the league began a period of expansion that saw its size more than double in the span of a decade. After the Chicago Bulls joined the league in 1966, the NBA added two western teams a year later, establishing franchises in San Diego and Seattle. The Seattle franchise was awarded to a group of Los Angeles businesspeople who decided to name it SuperSonics. The name was inspired by a supersonic passenger airplane that the Seattle-based Boeing Company was working on at the time.
As is typical of most expansion teams, the SuperSonics struggled to win games in their first few years in the NBA. Among the few bright spots for Seattle was point guard Lenny Wilkens, who also doubled as head coach from 1969 to 1972. The SuperSonics posted their first winning season in 1971–1972, but it would not be until 1975 that the team would make its first playoff appearance. After a return trip to the postseason in 1976, Seattle missed the playoffs in 1977 and began the next season with a 5–17 record. After firing its head coach, Seattle turned again to Wilkens, who had retired as a player in 1975 to concentrate on coaching. The SuperSonics responded by going 42–18 the rest of the way, moving into the playoffs, and advancing all the way to the 1978 NBA Finals. Seattle held a 3–2 series lead heading into Game Six against the Washington Bullets but lost the final two games and the championship.
In 1978–1979, the SuperSonics won fifty-two games, the best record in the Western Conference and returned to the NBA Finals where they faced a rematch with the Bullets. This time, the outcome would be different as Seattle came back from a 0–1 deficit to win the championship in five games. The SuperSonics advanced to the Western Conference Finals in 1980 but fell to the eventual NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers. By the mid-1980s, the heroes of the 1979 championship team had moved on, and the franchise entered a brief period of decline. Despite posting a losing record from 1985 to 1987, the SuperSonics managed to sneak into the playoffs in 1986–1987 with a 39–43 mark. They surprised the NBA by advancing all the way to the Western Conference Finals before being swept by the Lakers.
During the 1990s, Seattle began to build another championship-caliber team, making the playoffs each season from 1991 to 1998. In 1993, they lost in the Western Conference Finals, and in 1996, posted a franchise-best sixty-four wins and advanced to the NBA Finals. Their opponent was the Chicago Bulls who had set a then-NBA record for most regular season wins with seventy-two. The Bulls won the series 4–2. The SuperSonics fell on hard times during the 2000s, posting six sub-.500 seasons and winning only twenty games in 2007–2008. This down period gave them the draft capital to select future superstars such as forward Kevin Durant in 2007; however, the franchise turnaround would not happen in Seattle.
In 2001, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz bought the team and spent most of the next five years battling with the city of Seattle to construct a new arena. The team played in KeyArena, a facility that first opened in 1962. When the city would not agree to provide funds for a new arena, Schultz sold the franchise to Oklahoma businessperson Clay Bennett in 2006. Bennett threatened to move the team if plans for a new arena were not in place by October 2007. While fans organized efforts to save the team, Seattle voters approved a ballot measure that rejected the use of public funds for professional sports teams. With no new arena coming, Bennett moved the team to Oklahoma City for the 2008–2009 season.
The team rebranded as the Thunder, a name chosen by fans from a pre-selected list of possibilities. Its new logo was a triangular shield-like device featuring a basketball and the letters “OKC” across the front and the word “Thunder” on top. The team’s rebuilding effort continued in its new home, as Oklahoma City selected guard Russell Westbrook in the 2008 NBA Draft and guard James Harden in the 2009 Draft. Together, Durant, Westbrook, and Harden formed an exciting young core that led the Thunder to the 2011 Western Conference Finals. The next season, Oklahoma City was one of the NBA’s best teams, advancing to the NBA Finals where they were favored to win a championship. However, they were outplayed by a LeBron James-led Miami Heat team and lost the series 4–1.
Harden signed with Houston as a free agent after the 2012 playoffs, and while Oklahoma City made the Western Conference Finals in 2014 and 2016, they fell short of another NBA Finals berth. Durant left the Thunder after the 2015–2016 season to sign with Golden State and Westbrook joined Harden in Houston in 2019. The Thunder remained competitive despite these personnel losses, although they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs each season from 2017 to 2019.
Notable players
Among the stars on the early SuperSonics teams was forward Spencer Haywood, who played in Seattle from 1970 to 1975. A four-time NBA All-Star, Haywood led the team in scoring four times and was elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015. Lenny Wilkins played with Seattle from 1968 to 1972 and made three of his nine career All-Star appearances with the team. He served as player/coach of the SuperSonics from 1969 to 1972 and as full-time head coach from 1977 to 1985. Wilkins went on to coach four other NBA teams, and when he retired in 2005, he was the NBA’s all-time winningest coach with 1,332 victories. He has since been passed and stands second on the list as of 2020. Wilkins was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player in 1989 and as a coach in 1998.
Guard Dennis Johnson played in Seattle from 1976 to 1980 and made two All-Star teams with the franchise. He was the MVP of the 1979 NBA Finals and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2010. Six-foot-eleven Jack Sikma was a dominant force under the basket for Seattle in the late 1970s into the 1980s. A seven-time All-Star, Sikma holds the franchise record for rebounds with 7,729 and is fifth in points scored with 12,034.
In 1989, Seattle drafted power forward Shawn Kemp, who had NBA-caliber skills but did not play college basketball. After a few years learning the pro game, Kemp became a five-time All-Star with Seattle and was an integral part of the 1996 team that made the NBA Finals. An even more important part of that team was point guard Gary Payton, who was drafted by the SuperSonics in 1990. Payton played with Seattle until 2003 and made nine All-Star appearances over that time. Known as much for his lockdown defensive skills as his offensive ability, Payton won the 1996 Defensive Player of the Year and is sixth in NBA history with 2,445 steals. Elected to the Hall of Fame in 2013, Payton is second on the franchise scoring list with 18,207 points and first in assists with 7,384 and steals with 2,107.
Kevin Durant played his first season as a SuperSonic in 2007 before moving with the team to Oklahoma City. From 2007 to 2016, Durant led the NBA in scoring four times and made seven All-Star teams. He was voted league MVP in the 2013–2014 season and is third on the franchise scoring list with 17,566 points. Russell Westbrook was with the Thunder from 2008 to 2019 and is the franchise’s all-time leader in points scored with 18,859. From 2017 to 2019, Westbrook averaged a triple-double—double digits in points scored, assists, and rebounds—a feat that had only been accomplished once before in history. NBA legend Oscar Robertson did it in 1961–1962 with the Cincinnati Royals; Westbrook achieved that mark for three straight seasons. Westbrook made eight All-Star teams with Oklahoma City and was named the NBA MVP in 2016–2017. James Harden was a valuable player off the bench during his time with the Thunder and did not blossom as a superstar until he left for Houston. Harden won the 2017–2018 NBA MVP, giving the early-2010s Thunder three future winners of the award.
Bibliography
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