REALITY IS PREPARING to slap Sonics fans directly in the face. The NBA Finals could end tonight with a Game 6 victory or head to a decisive seventh game in the small-market series between Oklahoma City (3) and the Indiana Pacers (2). Either way, I’m betting on pessimism and a championship parade down whatever covered wagon trail the OKC faithful use as a main drag.
Apparently it’s been an entertaining series with Pacers guard Haliburton continuing his run of remarkable last-second shots, scrappy guard TJ McConnell pestering everyone and everything in a blue uniform while NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA) displays his “exciting” penchant for earning free throws.
I’m part of a group text chain with buddies who still enjoy the NBA, but I haven’t seen a second of this Finals appearance or any OKC playoff game, ever. There’s just no interest in watching the Blunder work their way to lift the team’s first of what could be a litany of Larry O’Brien trophies.
Neither did I check in during 2011 when the wound of the Seattle Supersonics ending a 47-year run in the Emerald City, sold to a carpetbagger who sold us a bill of goods in 2007, was still fresh.
Curse or King?
LeBron James and the Miami Heat were there to stop the bad guys in that NBA Finals appearance, and after Durant, Harden and Russell Westbrook all left the team and future No. 2 draft pick Chet Holmgren broke his foot and missed his rookie season, there was a feeling that the prairie dog franchise may be snakebitten.
Not anymore.
Unfortunately, the team’s exceptional general manager Sam Presti made trades to stockpile future draft picks with bad franchises — also fleecing the Los Angeles Clippers for SGA and getting draft capital from Philadelphia and Utah.
The team has the 15th and 24th pick in this draft, three more first-rounders in 2026 (a top eight-protected Utah pick and a top-four protected Philly choice). Protections mean OKC will take the Jazz’s pick if it’s No. 9 or lower and the 76ers’ if they are No. 5 or lower.
And this list doesn’t include the 17 second-round picks that the Thunder possess in the next seven drafts.
Salary-cap rules could hurt the small-market team’s ability to keep its core on bigger contracts, but with the ability to refresh the roster and cut costs through the draft — OKC can keep kicking the can down the road for what looks like a solid half-decade at least.
I can’t knock the team’s fans, the arena does look full on the occasional highlight. And the roster construction and flexibility is incredible — they have fun, interchangeable and functional athletes, including two guys named Jalen/Jaylin Williams and a superstar in his prime in SGA. This team isn’t going anywhere but back to the playoffs for seasons to come.
It all dates back to a hurricane.
The unfortunate reality is Hurricane Katrina left the New Orleans arena in no shape to host professional sports in 2005-07, sending the New Orleans Hornets (previously the Charlotte Bobcats, until 2002) to spend two seasons in Oklahoma City — and the OKC fans embraced the interim Hornets like their own.
The support was noticed by the NBA, which was watching Seattle’s ownership struggle in its push for a new arena plan — only 10 years after the Seattle Coliseum was renovated into KeyArena — and in the wake of constructing two other massive sports edifices for the Seahawks and Mariners.
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz pulled the rug out from under hopes to keep the team in Seattle by selling the team in 2007 to an Oklahoma energy consortium headed by Clay Bennett, someone Schultz somehow believed was likely to keep the team in Seattle.
“Shout-out to Mr. Bennett, who had a vision 17 years ago,” coach Mark Daigneault said after the team won the Western Conference Finals.
“He has tied this team to the community. And Sam [Presti] who has been here all 17 years — he’s brought that vision to life, and they’ve provided an unbelievable experience for everybody that works here, including the players, and all of our fans.”
At this point, I’m resigned to acceptance — except for references to the team’s “shared” history.
Former Sonics coach George Karl echoed those thoughts in a social media post last month, criticizing the media for the way it has written about the championship histories of the Thunder and Indiana Pacers.
In his post, Karl included a screenshot of Sonics great Shawn Kemp being mentioned as a Blunder franchise great. Though it says “Seattle SuperSonics” above Kemp’s stats, he is wearing an OKC blue and black jersey in the graphic.
“Media keeps saying the Pacers won 3 championships in the 70s and the Thunder last won 1 in ‘79,” Karl posted. “But both of those things are BS! The Thunder aren’t the Sonics and the Pacers incredible ABA titles are ignored in NBA records. These two wrongs should be righted!!”
Bennett retained the Sonics name, playoff banners and logo rights without the ability to use them in OKC, but those rights will return to Seattle with a new franchise.
There have been rumors of interest in expanding to Las Vegas, and July’s Board of Governors’ meeting will be the next time the issue will be discussed.
MOHAI exhibit rocks
In the meantime, if anyone wants to enjoy some Sonics history, the team title trophy is in a case at Seattle’s Museum of History & Industry along with the team’s banners.
And if you play video games, moving the team to Seattle and enjoying all the coming success is always available in NBA2K’s franchise mode.
