The Roaming Photographer

Photo Credit:

https://1000logos.net/oklahoma-city-thunder-logo/

1967 - 2008: Seatle Supersonics

The Thunder’s previous incarnation, the Seattle SuperSonics was formed in 1967. In their 41 seasons in Seattle, the SuperSonics compiled a 1,745 – 1,585 (.524) win-loss record in the regular season and went 107 – 110 (.493) in the playoffs. The franchise titles include three Western Conference championships (1978, 1979, and 1996) and one NBA title in 1979.

2008 2009: Move to Oklahoma City and inaugural season

In 2006, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz sold the SuperSonics and its Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) sister franchise, the Seattle Storm, for $350 million to the Professional Basketball Club LLC, a group of Oklahoma City investors led by Clay Bennett(1). The sale of the SuperSonics and Storm was approved by NBA owners the following October(2)(3). In 2007, Bennett announced that the franchise would move to Oklahoma City as soon as the lease with Key Arena expired(4).

In June 2008, a lawsuit brought by the city of Seattle against Bennett due to his attempts to break the final two years of the Sonics’ lease at KeyArena went to federal court. Nearly a month later, the two sides reached a settlement agreement(5). The terms awarded the city $45 million to get out of the remaining lease at KeyArena and would have provided an additional $30 million payment to Seattle in 2013 if certain conditions had been met. The owners agreed to leave the SuperSonics name, logo, colors, banners, trophies, and records in Seattle for a possible future NBA franchise;(6) however, the items would remain the property of the Oklahoma City team along with other “assets”, including championship banners and trophies(7). On September 3rd, 2008, the team name, logo, and colors were revealed to the public. The name “Thunder” was chosen because of Oklahoma’s location in Tornado Alley and Oklahoma City as the home of the U.S. Army’s 45th Infantry Division, the Thunderbirds(8)(9)(10). The SuperSonics’ final NBA draft was in 2008, and they used the fourth overall pick to select Russell Westbrook, a young point guard from UCLA, who would become the team’s franchise player.

The Thunder participated in the Orlando Pro Summer League featuring their second-year players, potential free agents, and rookies. The players wore generic black and white jerseys reading “OKC-NBA” against an outline of a basketball. The Thunder’s temporary practice facility was the Sawyer Center at Southern Nazarene University, which had been used by the New Orleans Hornets when they relocated to Oklahoma City after Hurricane Katrina(11).

The Thunder played several preseason games before the 2008 – 09 regular season, but only one of those games was in Oklahoma City. The Thunder made their first appearance in Billings, Montana, on October 8th, 2008, in an 88 – 82 preseason loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves(12). The Thunder played their first Ford Center game on October 14th, against the Los Angeles Clippers.

In their regular-season home opener, the Thunder faced (and lost to) the Milwaukee Bucks. Earl Watson scored the first points of the season with a layup. Three nights later on November 2nd, the Thunder won their first game by defeating the Timberwolves, improving their record to 1 – 3. The team then went on a 10-game losing streak before deciding ton November 22nd to fire head coach P.J. Carlesimo and assistant Paul Westhead. Assistant coach Scott Brooks then took over on an interim basis(13). Oklahoma City lost its four next games to tie the franchise losing streak of 14 set in Seattle the previous season. But the team managed to prevent history by winning their next game on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies(14).

As the season continued, the Thunder began to improve. After starting 3 – 29, the Thunder finished the regular season 20 – 30 for the remaining fifty games. Not only did they win more often, they played much more competitively than in the first part of the season. The team brought their record to 23 – 59 and improved upon their record of 20 – 62 from the team’s final season in Seattle. The late-season success of the Thunder contributed to the signing of Scott Brooks as the team’s official head coach.

After moving to Oklahoma City from Seattle, the team’s operating situation improved markedly. In December 2008, Forbes magazine estimated the team’s franchise value at $300 million – a 12 percent increase from the previous year’s $268 million, when the club was located in Seattle(15). Forbes also noted an increase in the percentage of available tickets sold, from 78 percent in the team’s last season in Seattle to 100 percent in 2008 – 09(16).