How the Oklahoma City Thunder ended up in OKC

By Zachary Baru

The road to bringing an NBA championship to Oklahoma City has been well-deserved, but also a long and confusing turn of events.  It's a story that combines five cities, a sequence of relocations, and one of the worst natural disasters ever in U.S. history.  This is the story of how Oklahoma City became world champions of basketball, and how a series of moves in the league turned a college sports town into one of, if not the loudest arena in the NBA.

It all starts in Seattle.  The Seattle SuperSonics had a dedicated fan base and won the NBA Finals in the 1978-79 season, beating the Washington Bullets.  The team would not win another championship in Seattle, and by the mid-2000's their arena, KeyArena, was showing its age.  At the same time, the Charlotte Hornets became the New Orleans Hornets after the 2001-02 season.  This may not have seemed like it would have anything to do with the Sonics, but no one could have expected the magnitude of destruction that the city of New Orleans would endure during Hurricane Katrina on August 23, 2005.  After three seasons in New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina would force the Hornets to temporarily move to Oklahoma City.  The Hornets would be known as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, and the team would mostly remain in OKC for two seasons.  

As if the situation could not be any more confusing, the team would mostly remain in OKC for two seasons because even though the Hornets would move to the Ford Center, they would still play three games at the New Orleans Arena in 2005-06, and six games in New Orleans in 2006-07.  During the time the Hornets played at Oklahoma City's Ford Center, now known as Paycom Center, the team enjoyed enthusiastic crowds that were arguably very different than most NBA arenas.  The crowds were described by media in the NBA as "college-like", and very young and vibrant.  The league noticed, and so did potential ownership groups in Oklahoma City.

The Hornets finally moved backed to New Orleans at the beginning of the 2007-08 season, going back to the name "New Orleans Hornets".  The Hornets once again played at New Orleans Arena, now the Smoothie King Center.  The franchise would remain the Hornets until the end of the 2012-13 season, when the team would rebrand as the New Orleans Pelicans for the beginning of the 2013-14 season. 

Not entirely related, but for those who are interested, the Hornets name was at this point moved back to Charlotte.  After losing the Hornets after the 2001-02 season, the Charlotte Bobcats became an expansion team at the beginning of the 2004-05 season.  Once the New Orleans Hornets became the Pelicans at the beginning of the 2013-14 season, the Charlotte Bobcats would become the Hornets one year later for the start of the 2014-15 season.  Yes, the name change happening at the same time proved to make too much sense.  

In all seriousness, and to conclude this confusing sequence of events, it was the beginning of the 2007-08 season and Oklahoma City was left without a team.  The once vibrant crowds of the Ford Center were no more, but the idea of pro basketball in OKC was coming closer and closer to reality.  One year earlier in 2006, an Oklahoma City group led by Clay Bennett purchased the Seattle SuperSonics and Seattle Storm of the WNBA.  It was said that their intention was to keep the team in Seattle if a new arena deal could be reached, but after negotiations with the city of Seattle failed, the ownership group announced relocation plans.  The Seattle Storm would stay put at KeyArena drawing large and boisterous crowds.  The SuperSonics on the other hand, would move to become the Oklahoma City Thunder for the start of the 2008-09 season.

After many strong seasons, both on and and off the court, the Oklahoma City Thunder would finally win an NBA championship in the 2024-25 season.  And so after a series of twists and turns, after a horrible natural disaster, and after five different cities each tried to have a franchise of their own, Oklahoma City finally would have a franchise that is not only known for some of the best fans in the league, but is now world champions.

Zach Baru can be followed on Twitter @zbaru and reached at zachbaru@gmail.com.  Zach also writes SportsBusinessBoston.com and WesternMassSportsBiz.com.

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