60 Fun Facts About Oklahoma City Thunder

What name did the Thunder's home arena adopt when its naming rights were sold in 2021?

Paycom Center replaced Chesapeake Energy Arena after the energy company, fresh out of bankruptcy, cancelled its naming deal in April 2021. Paycom then signed on for 15 years.

Despite sitting next door to Texas, the Thunder play in which NBA division?

Northwest: the NBA refused to realign when the team left Seattle, so Oklahoma City stayed grouped with Portland and Utah rather than joining its Texas neighbours in the Southwest.

Which coach led the Seattle SuperSonics to their only NBA championship, in 1979?

Lenny Wilkens took over a 5–17 team early in 1977–78 and reached the Finals that spring. A year later his Sonics beat the same Washington Bullets in five games.

Which Oklahoma City businessman led the group that bought the SuperSonics in 2006?

Clay Bennett's group pledged a good-faith effort to keep the team in Seattle; when no arena deal came by his October 2007 deadline, he told the NBA he would move it home.

Which former CEO sold the SuperSonics to the Oklahoma City group in 2006?

Howard Schultz of Starbucks sued in 2008 to undo the sale, claiming the buyers never meant to stay in Seattle, then dropped the case that August as unwinnable.

In 2008 the Thunder's owners paid Seattle $45 million to break their lease on which building?

KeyArena's lease ran through 2010, but the deal was struck hours before a federal judge was due to rule on whether the team had to stay.

Under the 2008 settlement, what happened to the SuperSonics name, colours and banners?

Kept in Seattle for a future team: the name, logo and colours were shelved, and the banners and trophy went to a Seattle museum while Oklahoma City was allowed to make copies.

The 'Thunder' name references Tornado Alley and which US Army division long headquartered in Oklahoma City?

The 45th Infantry Division, an Oklahoma National Guard outfit that fought in World War II and Korea, goes by the nickname Thunderbirds.

Which NBA team played two seasons in Oklahoma City before the Thunder arrived?

New Orleans Hornets, displaced by Hurricane Katrina, were such a success in Oklahoma City that the NBA commissioner put the city top of his list for any team that relocated; a year after they left, one did.

Which UCLA point guard did the SuperSonics take fourth overall in their final draft in 2008?

Russell Westbrook was drafted on June 26, 2008, six days before the settlement that freed the team to leave, so he never played a game for Seattle.

Which player did the SuperSonics take second overall in 2007, a year before the move to Oklahoma City?

Kevin Durant went one pick after Greg Oden, who missed that whole season after knee surgery while Durant was Rookie of the Year in the Sonics' final Seattle campaign.

Where did the Thunder play their first-ever game, a 2008 preseason loss to Minnesota?

Billings, Montana counted as a Timberwolves home game: Minnesota hosted the exhibition at MetraPark and won 88–82, five weeks after the Thunder got their name.

Which coach did the Thunder fire in November 2008 after a 1–12 start, promoting Scott Brooks?

P. J. Carlesimo was dismissed after the loss that made it 1–12; his interim replacement, Scott Brooks, was named NBA Coach of the Year at the end of the next season.

Whom did the Thunder draft third overall in 2009 to complete their young Big Three?

James Harden started just seven games in three Oklahoma City seasons, winning Sixth Man of the Year in 2012, and became a league MVP only after leaving.

In 2009–10 a 21-year-old Thunder forward became the youngest player ever to lead the NBA in what?

Scoring: his 30.1 points a game edged LeBron James by 0.4, and the Thunder, winners of 23 games a year earlier, won 50 and reached the playoffs.

Which team eliminated the Thunder in the 2011 Western Conference finals on the way to the title?

Dallas Mavericks won in five, erasing a 15-point Thunder lead in the final five minutes of Game 4 behind 40 points from Dirk Nowitzki.

Which team beat the Thunder in the 2012 NBA Finals?

Miami Heat lost the opener in Oklahoma City, then won four straight to hand LeBron James his first championship.

Which guard headlined the package the Thunder received in October 2012 for their reigning Sixth Man of the Year?

Kevin Martin filled the bench-scorer role for a single season before leaving; Jeremy Lamb, two first-round picks and a second-rounder also came back in the deal.

Whose lunge for a steal in the 2013 playoffs tore the Thunder point guard's meniscus and ended his season?

Patrick Beverley, then a rookie, crashed into his knee in Game 2 of the first round; until that night the guard had never missed a game in five NBA seasons.

The Thunder's 2014 first-round matchup with Memphis set an NBA playoff record for what?

Four straight overtime games, from Game 2 through Game 5, had never happened in a playoff series; Memphis won three of them, yet the Thunder survived in seven.

Which team eliminated the Thunder in the 2016 conference finals after OKC led the series 3–1?

Golden State Warriors won three straight, the turn coming in Game 6 in Oklahoma City, where Klay Thompson hit a then-playoff-record 11 three-pointers and scored 41.

Where did the Thunder's superstar forward publish his 2016 announcement that he was leaving Oklahoma City?

The Players' Tribune ran his essay 'My Next Chapter' on Independence Day 2016; he was joining the very team that had knocked the Thunder out five weeks earlier.

In 2016–17 the Thunder's MVP broke whose 55-year-old record for triple-doubles in a season?

Oscar Robertson's 41 had stood since 1961–62. The 42nd arrived in a 50-point game that ended on a 36-foot buzzer-beater, which also knocked the opponent out of the playoff race.

Which All-Star forward did the Thunder land in July 2017 for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis?

Paul George had made no secret of wanting to play for his hometown Lakers; a year later he re-signed for four years without even meeting them, then was traded to the Clippers in 2019.

Whom did the Thunder get from the Knicks in September 2017 for Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott?

Carmelo Anthony, a ten-time All-Star, averaged 16.2 points in his lone Thunder season, eight below his career mark, then was dealt to Atlanta and bought out within a week.

Which young guard came to Oklahoma City from the Clippers in July 2019 along with five first-round picks?

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had played one NBA season, averaging 10.8 points as a Clippers rookie. Six years later he was league MVP and Finals MVP in the same season.

Whom did the Thunder receive from Houston when they traded their franchise point guard in July 2019?

Paul made his 10th All-Star team in OKC before being flipped to Phoenix a year later.

Which Thunder defender went undrafted in 2019 yet made the NBA All-Defensive First Team in 2025?

Luguentz Dort began on a two-way contract, the league's lowest rung. In his sixth season he finished fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting for the champions.

The Thunder suffered the largest defeat in NBA history, 152–79, in December 2021 against which team?

Memphis Grizzlies won by 73 with their star Ja Morant out injured, breaking a 68-point record that had stood for 30 years.

Whom did the Thunder select second overall in the 2022 draft?

Chet Holmgren hurt his foot that August defending LeBron James on a fast break in a summer pro-am game, and missed his entire first season.

Which coach, promoted from assistant in 2020, won Coach of the Year in 2024?

Mark Daigneault, once a student manager at UConn, had never been a head coach above the Thunder's G League side; his 2024 team became the youngest ever to finish first in a conference.

Whom did the Thunder trade Josh Giddey to Chicago for in the 2024 off-season?

Alex Caruso began his pro career, undrafted, with the Thunder's G League team in 2016–17 under the same head coach who welcomed him back; he returned as the defensive ace of the title team.

The 68-win Thunder of 2024–25 broke a 53-year-old NBA record for what?

Scoring margin: they outscored opponents by 12.9 points a game, passing the 1971–72 Lakers, yet were twice taken to a seventh game on the way to the title.

The Thunder scored a playoff-record 87 first-half points in May 2025 against a team led by which star?

Nikola Jokić's team had stolen the series opener on a last-second three-pointer; two nights later the Thunder scored 87 by half-time, beating a mark from the 2017 Finals, and won by 43.

Which team did the Thunder beat in seven games in the 2025 NBA Finals for their first Oklahoma City title?

Indiana Pacers forced a seventh game, then lost star guard Tyrese Haliburton to a torn Achilles in its first quarter; it was the first Finals to go the distance since 2016.

Which team led the 2012 West finals 2–0 on a 20-game winning streak, then lost four straight to the Thunder?

San Antonio Spurs had not lost in seven weeks. That spring the Thunder beat the only three teams that had won the West in the previous 13 seasons.

Why did Thunder uniforms carry no gold championship tab before 2025 despite Seattle's 1979 title?

The club doesn't recognise it: when the NBA added the gold tabs in 2014, the Thunder chose to leave Seattle's 1979 title off, so the first tab they ever wore marks 2025.

What is the name of the Thunder's mascot, introduced in February 2009?

Rumble the Bison arrived at halftime playing a drum solo on a platform lowered 95 feet from the rafters. Six months later his fellow mascots voted him NBA Mascot of the Year.

Which player, with the franchise for his whole 2003–2018 career, was the first to have his number retired by the Thunder?

Nick Collison averaged 5.9 points over 14 seasons, mostly off the bench; the Thunder hung a role player's No. 4 in the rafters before any of their MVPs' numbers.

Who was the Thunder's general manager when the franchise moved to Oklahoma City in 2008?

Sam Presti was hired at 30, a year before the move, and used his top pick in each of his first three drafts on a future MVP.

What is the name of the Thunder's G League affiliate?

Oklahoma City Blue began as the Asheville Altitude and spent nine seasons as the Tulsa 66ers before the Thunder moved the team to their own city in 2014.

The Thunder's black-and-gold 2019–20 alternate uniform commemorated the 25th anniversary of what?

The Oklahoma City bombing of April 19, 1995 is marked on the shorts by two times, 9:01 and 9:03, the minutes either side of the blast; the Survivor Tree, an elm that withstood it, sits on the belt.

The Thunder's turquoise 2018–19 'City' uniform was inspired by what?

Oklahoma's Native American heritage set the colour: turquoise is the native colour of friendship and the 11th-anniversary stone, and the uniform arrived in the Thunder's 11th season.

In his tearful 2014 MVP speech, the Thunder's star forward told whom 'you the real MVP'?

His mother had raised two sons alone, and he thanked her for every sacrifice. The line became a meme and, two years later, the title of a TV movie about her produced by Queen Latifah.

What did Thunder owners pledge when voters approved a $900 million arena in 2023?

To stay through 2050 was the pledge; the owners put up $50 million of at least $900 million, a deal economists panned, and 71 percent of voters still said yes.

A 58-point game against Portland in 2017 tied a franchise record set by which SuperSonic in 1974?

Fred Brown, known as 'Downtown Freddie', scored his 58 five years before the NBA had a three-point line; in the line's first season he led the league in three-point accuracy.

Who set the Thunder's single-game record with 11 blocks in a February 2012 triple-double?

Serge Ibaka blocked 11 shots and still was not the headline: in the same overtime win two team-mates scored 51 and 40.

Which two-word slogan do Oklahoma City's NBA team and its fans rally behind?

Thunder Up is the rallying cry, and the one-colour crowds are no accident: the club lays a free shirt on every seat at home playoff games, and fans put them on.

Which team eliminated the Thunder in seven games in the 2020 bubble?

Houston Rockets won Game 7 by two points, 104–102, with two former Thunder stars in their backcourt.

Which team ended the Thunder's 15-game winning streak in January 2025?

Cleveland Cavaliers won 129–122 at home to stretch a streak of their own to 11; the two conference leaders had both arrived on double-digit winning runs.

Which team beat the Thunder in the 2024 NBA Cup final?

Milwaukee Bucks won 97–81 in Las Vegas, holding the Thunder to their lowest score of the season; because Cup finals don't count in the standings, the loss never touched their 68-win record.

What became of the WNBA's Storm, bought with the SuperSonics in 2006, when the Sonics moved?

It stayed in Seattle: in January 2008, months before the Sonics left, the owner sold the Storm for $10 million to four local women.

Whose 37-foot buzzer-beater, followed by a wave goodbye, eliminated the Thunder from the 2019 playoffs?

Damian Lillard hit it from 37 feet at the buzzer of Game 5 to finish a 50-point night. Within three months the Thunder had traded both of their All-Stars and begun a rebuild.

The Thunder's 50-32 mark in 2009-10 tied which team for most wins by an 8th seed in the modern era?

The 2008 Denver Nuggets also went 50–32 and were swept; the Thunder, up from 23 wins a year earlier, took two games off the eventual champion Lakers.

Which centre did the Thunder take with the 12th pick of the 2013 draft?

Steven Adams stopped going to school at 13 after his father died; a brother called a Wellington coach who got him into a school and his academy, and at 19 he was an NBA lottery pick.

After one season in Oklahoma City, Al Horford was traded back to Boston in 2021 for which All-Star point guard?

Kemba Walker never played a game for the Thunder: seven weeks after the June 2021 trade he agreed a buyout and signed with his hometown New York Knicks.

Whom did the Thunder select with the 12th pick in 2022, the same draft as their No. 2 choice?

Jalen Williams scored 40 points in Game 5 of the 2025 Finals while playing through a torn ligament in his shooting wrist, then had surgery days after the title.

Which SuperSonics forward was MVP of the 1987 All-Star Game, played in Seattle's Kingdome?

Tom Chambers only made the West team as an injury replacement for Ralph Sampson, then scored a game-high 34 points in an overtime win before his home crowd.

Why was Oklahoma City's March 2008 arena-tax vote a gamble?

It had no team yet: the 62 percent yes vote came six weeks before NBA owners approved the SuperSonics' move, while the legal fight in Seattle was still unresolved.

Which championship-winning college coach replaced Scott Brooks as the Thunder's head coach in 2015?

Billy Donovan had tried the NBA once before: in 2007 he signed to coach the Orlando Magic, got cold feet within days and was let out of the deal to return to Florida.