When I was younger, just a little girl living in Oklahoma, I decided that I was a Golden State Warriors fan—a team I picked just because it annoyed my brother.
I didn’t care much for sports and was annoyed by how much he talked and talked about any and every sport on the planet.
The Warriors were just about the worst possible team to pick in his eyes. The era of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson dominating the court was his worst nightmare.
The nail in the coffin was when I was 11. Completely lacking in knowledge of basketball, I predicted that in free agency, Kevin Durant would sign with the Warriors, to which my brother responded: “No way!”
We all know how that ends.
As I’ve grown older and begun to enjoy sports, arguably too much, I have learned why the Oklahoma City Thunder (OKC) meant so much to my brother, why the OKC Thunder is so important to Oklahoma, and now, to myself, though I am still fond of my Warriors.
Let me start by saying that I am not superstitious. I have almost perfectly predicted each game and series results for the Thunder for this year’s playoffs, though my prediction of the Knicks in seventh didn’t exactly come to fruition.
But, hey! That’s the Eastern Conference.
In fact, I began writing this article before Game Seven of the finals even began. I just knew we would win.
That Sunday, my dad told me I’m the “only person he doesn’t care” if they say we’ll win because he knows it’s not a jinx by now, because of how often I’ve repeated it this playoff season.
I was lucky enough to attend Game One of the Western Conference Finals on May 20, where I received constant “noise level” notifications from my Apple Watch.
It was the most explosive sports atmosphere I have ever experienced.
“They’ve been behind us through good, through bad,” NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said of the fan support in OKC, dubbed “Loud City.” “It feels like no team in the league has home court advantage like we do.”
This is why I didn’t care for superstition and why I knew we had this win in us.
You’ll often hear similar sentiments for any “small market” team—with limited supply comes a major demand.
The OKC Thunder is the only top-level team of the Big Four US leagues that Oklahoma has. The only place for all of Oklahoma to rally behind with all of their support.
The OKC Thunder took home the NBA championship title in a 4-3 series win on June 22. They won the game with a 12-point lead, 103-91.
This is not just the OKC Thunder, but all of Oklahoma’s first major championship. It shows the years fans have spent dedicated to this franchise are worth it.
That we can win.
Oklahoma can win.
No one understands this as well as former Thunder player Russell Westbrook, who is an investor in an upcoming project in OKC to create a “sports-anchored entertainment district” right in the heart of the downtown.
The project includes a brand new soccer stadium to be used for OKC’s men’s and women’s United Soccer League (USL) Teams.
Throughout his years at the OKC Thunder, Westbrook began to believe in Oklahoma City as a hub for sports and entertainment, having also been named Creative Director for the project.
This championship highlights the passion of OKC and Oklahoma fans—a passion that Westbrook thinks is worth investing in, and he believes can win.
I believe we will continue winning in everything we do.
But even if not, we’ll keep cheering and putting our support behind those who know Oklahoma is worth investing in.
Ace Crawford is a writer for The Setonian’s Opinion section. Ace can be reached at grace.crawford@student.shu.edu.
