Oklahoma City Thunder

Oklahoma City Thunder
founding	1967
history	Seattle SuperSonics 1967–2008 Oklahoma City Thunder since 2008
Stadion	Chesapeake Energy Arena
Location	Oklahoma City , Oklahoma
Club colors	Blue, blue, gold, orange    
league	NBA
Conference	Western Conference
division	Northwest Division
Head coach	Billy Donovan
General manager	Sam Presti
owner	Professional Basketball Club LLC ( Clay Bennett , President)
Farm teams	Oklahoma City Blue
Championships	1 (1979)
Conference title	4 (1978, 1979, 1996, 2012)
Division title	11 (1978, 1979, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2005, 2011-2014, 2016)
Association Icon Statement

Sonics logo

The Oklahoma City Thunder are a professional basketball - Franchise from the North American basketball league NBA . The team is based in the capital Oklahoma City of the state of Oklahoma and plays their games in the Chesapeake Energy Arena .

The franchise was founded in 1967 under the name Seattle SuperSonics and began playing at the beginning of the 1967/68 season. After the 2007-08 season , the franchise moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City and renamed itself.

history

The time in Seattle (1967 to 2008)

→ Main article : Seattle SuperSonics

The Seattle SuperSonics were founded in 1967 and were Seattle's first professional basketball team. They won their only NBA championship in 1979. The team was one between 2001 and 2006 the founder and president of Starbucks - Coffee Shop chain, Howard Schultz .

Moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City (since 2008)

Kevin Durant played for Sonics / Thunder from 2007 to 2016

Since Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc in the New Orleans , Louisiana area in August 2005 , the New Orleans Hornets played in Oklahoma City during the 2005/06 and 2006/07 seasons . The Hornets played their home games at the Ford Center during this time . Because of the great support from the city's residents and good attendance, David Stern , the NBA's commissioner, believed Oklahoma City would be an excellent place for an NBA franchise.

In July 2006 the previous owner Howard Schultz sold the SuperSonics for 350 million US dollars to an investment group led by Clay Bennett from Oklahoma City. Shortly after purchasing the franchise, Bennet requested support from the City of Seattle to build a new arena or renovate the KeyArena , otherwise he would relocate the franchise. Due to a lack of support from the city of Seattle, Bennett announced in November 2007 that the franchise would move to Oklahoma City. Due to a license agreement for the KeyArena that ran until 2010, a court case between Bennett and the city of Seattle took place in June 2008. It was finally agreed that Bennett would pay the city of Seattle $ 45 million to terminate the contract and another $ 30 million if Seattle doesn't have a new team by 2013.

So nothing stood in the way of moving to Oklahoma City. The SuperSonics name and team colors will remain in Seattle. The banners and trophy after winning the 1979 championship will alternate between Oklahoma City and Seattle. Should Seattle get an expansion team , the two cities will “share” the story of the Sonics. On September 3, 2008 the team name, logo and colors of the team were presented.

Sporting development under Durant and Westbrook (2008 to 2016)

In the 2008/09 season , the Thunder were one of the youngest teams in the NBA with the young stars drafted a year earlier Kevin Durant , Jeff Green and rookie Russell Westbrook , who was selected fourth in the 2008 NBA draft . In this phase of rebuilding, the team got off to a bad start in their first NBA season. Then head coach was PJ Carlesimo fired and with Scott Brooks replaced. The playoffs were missed, but the sporting development of Durants and Westbrooks gave hope for the future. In the NBA Draft 2009 , the Thunder drew another talent in third place with James Harden , who should strengthen the team alongside Durant and Westbrook.

A year later, the Thunder qualified for the playoffs, but were eliminated against the favored Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. Durant won the NBA top scorer title and was the first Thunder player to play in the NBA All-Star Game .

Point Guard Russell Westbrook played in Oklahoma City until 2019

In the 2010/11 season , the Thunder had established themselves in the NBA. Durant and Westbrook were nominated for their performance in the NBA All Star Game. In the middle of the season, the team gave Jeff Green for Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to the Boston Celtics . Again the team qualified for the playoffs and stood after playoff victories against the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies for the first time in the Western Conference Finals, where they met the Dallas Mavericks around Dirk Nowitzki . The Thunder lost the series 1: 4 and Dallas moved into the NBA finals, which they could also win.

In the 2011/12 season , the Thunder met the Mavericks again in the first round of the playoffs, but this time won the series 4-0. After OKC won 4-1 against the Los Angeles Lakers in the Conference semifinals , the team defeated the San Antonio Spurs 4-2 in the Conference Finals despite an initial 2-0 deficit and thus stood against them in the 2012 finals Miami Heat . The Thunder lost 4-1 to the Heat, which won the second title in their team history.

Before the start of the new season, the Thunder could not agree on a contract extension with James Harden, who played a very important role during the playoffs, and transferred him to the Houston Rockets . In the following season , on March 6, 2013 in the home game against the Los Angeles Lakers , the team underwent only two turnovers , which they set an NBA record. With a narrow lead over the San Antonio Spurs, he was able to secure first place in the Western Conference for the first time. The 2012/13 season ended the Thunder in first place in the Western Conference with 60 wins and 22 losses. In the first round of the playoffs, the team met the Houston Rockets around ex-OKC player James Harden . The Thunder prevailed 4-2, but Russell Westbrook suffered a meniscus tear and had to be removed from the game. In the following round, the Thunder met the Memphis Grizzlies , which they had to admit defeat with 1: 4 wins.

In the 2013/14 season , the team achieved second place in the Western Conference with 59 wins. The Thunder had to do without Westbrook for much of the season, who could only play 46 games due to an injury. Kevin Durant had a very good season and was awarded the MVP trophy in the end. The Thunder reached the Conference Finals after victories over the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers , but were eliminated against the San Antonio Spurs with 2: 4 wins.

The 2014/15 season was marked by major injury concerns in the Oklahoma City squad. Stars like Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook or Serge Ibaka had to sit out again and again . The subsequent commitment of Center Enes Kanter via Trade from the Utah Jazz no longer brought the hoped-for change. With 45 wins and 37 defeats, the Thunder missed the playoffs in 9th place in the Western Conference. In response to the poor season's performance, head coach Scott Brooks was released from his duties in April 2015. Shortly after his release, Billy Donovan , who had previously coached the Florida Gators basketball team in the NCAA college league , was hired as the new coach.

The 2015/16 season ended with the Thunder in third place in the west with a score of 55:27. The duo Durant / Westbrook scored 3,907 points, 1,215 rebounds and 1,195 assists; no other pair of players in the NBA ever achieved such numbers. In the NBA playoffs, the Thunder met after victories over the Mavericks and Spurs in the conference finals on the defending champion, the Golden State Warriors . The Thunder led in the series 3-1, but lost the following three games and were eliminated 3-4 against the Warriors. This made them the tenth team in NBA history to be eliminated from the playoffs after a 3-1 lead.

New start with Westbrook (since 2016)

In the 2016 NBA draft , Serge Ibaka was given to the Orlando Magic . In return, rookie Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo moved to Oklahoma City. Durant decided to move to rivals, the Golden State Warriors , where the Thunder failed in the playoffs. Westbrook, however, extended his contract for three more years.

After the Thunder ended the 2016/17 season with a balance of 47-35 in 6th place in the Western Conference, they failed in the first round of the playoffs at the Houston Rockets. Westbrook scored a triple-double in the regular season on average (as the first player since Oscar Robertson in the 1961/62 season) and was voted MVP for the regular season. On June 30, 2017, manager Sam Presti transferred Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis for All-Star Paul George to the Indiana Pacers . In the further course of the off-season Presti managed to equip Andre Roberson again with a contract (30 million over 3 years), as well as to commit Patrick Patterson and Raymond Felton . On September 23, 2017, Presti traded Enes Kanter , Doug McDermott and a Chicago Bulls second-round draft pick for All-Star Carmelo Anthony at the New York Knicks. Russell Westbrook then extended his contract until 2023.

In the 2017/18 season, the Thunder could not always meet the high expectations, but they qualified for the playoffs. Despite home advantage in the first playoff round against Utah Jazz , the favored Thunder failed in the sixth game of the series and were eliminated 2-4 against Utah.

For the 2017/18 season, Paul George surprisingly extended his contract, which expired at the end of the season, by four years until 2022, and Nerlens Noel could be signed during the free agency phase . The extension of George's contract was unexpected for many, as he announced in the previous season that he wanted to move to the Los Angeles Lakers. On July 19, 2018, the Thunder transferred aging all-star Carmelo Anthony to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team trade . In return, they received German point guard Dennis Schröder from the Hawks and Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot from the Philadelphia 76ers .

After a disappointing 2018-19 season, in which the Thunder were eliminated again in the first round of the playoffs, they gave in the off-season Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers and in return received Guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander , Danilo Gallinari and five First-round draft picks. Shortly thereafter, the team also transferred superstar Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets, for the point guard Chris Paul moved to Oklahoma City.

Current squad

Oklahoma City Thunder Squad as of July 11, 2020

player No. Nat. Surname position birth size info college 2 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Guard 07/12/1998 198 cm Kentucky 3 Chris Paul Guard 05/06/1985 183 cm Wake Forest 5 Luguentz there Guard 04/19/1999 193 cm R. Arizona State 6th Hamidou Diallo Guard 07/31/1998 196 cm Kentucky 7th Darius Bazley Forward 06/12/2000 206 cm R. Princeton High (OH) 8th Danilo Gallinari Forward 08/08/1988 208 cm Italy 9 Nerlens Noel center 04/10/1994 211 cm Kentucky 11 Abdel Nader Forward 09/25/1993 198 cm Iowa State 12 Steven Adams center 07/20/1993 213 cm Pittsburgh 14th Devon Hall Guard 07/07/1995 196 cm G / R Virginia 15th Kevin Hervey Forward 07/09/1996 206 cm G / R Texas Arlington 17th Dennis Schröder Guard 09/15/1993 186 cm Germany 21st André Roberson Guard December 4th, 1991 201 cm Colorado 22nd Isaiah Roby Forward 02/03/1998 203 cm R / Nebraska 23 Terrance Ferguson Guard 05/17/1998 201 cm Prime Prep Academy 30th Deonte Burton Guard January 31, 1994 196 cm Iowa State 33 Mike Muscala center 01/07/1991 211 cm Bucknell

Coaches Nat. Surname position Billy Donovan Head coach Maurice Cheeks Assistant coach Brian Keefe Assistant coach Dave Bliss Assistant coach Mike Wilks Assistant coach Vin Bhavnani Assistant coach Mark Daigneault Assistant coach David Akinyooye Assistant coach Legend Abbr. meaning No. Jersey number Nat. nationality C. Team captain R. Rookie G Two-way contract Inactivity due to injury

Honors and achievements worth mentioning

No longer assigned jersey numbers (Seattle SuperSonics and OKC)

No.	Nat.	Surname	position	time
1		Gus Williams	Guard	1977-1984
10		Nate McMillan	Guard	1987-1998
19th		Lenny Wilkens	Guard and trainer coach	1969–1972 (victories 121: 125 defeats) 1978–1985 (victories 357: 277 defeats)
24		Spencer Haywood	Forward	1971-1975
32		Fred Brown	Guard	1971-1984
43		Jack Sikma	center	1978-1986
4th		Nick Collison	Forward	2003-2018

Well-known former players

Surname	current club
Ray Allen	Career ended
Brent Barry	Career ended
Kevin Durant	Brooklyn Nets
Dale Ellis	Career ended
Derek Fisher	Career ended
Paul George	Los Angeles Clippers
Serge Ibaka	Toronto Raptors
Shawn Kemp	Career ended
Xavier McDaniel	Career ended
Derrick McKey	Career ended
Rashard Lewis	Career ended
Gary Payton	Career ended
Sam Perkins	Career ended
Detlef Schrempf	Career ended
Russell Westbrook	Houston Rockets

Trainer

Surname	Victories: defeats	Wins [%]	time
PJ Carlesimo	21-74	22.1	2007-2008
Scott Brooks	338-207	62.0	2008-2015
Billy Donovan	102-62	62.2	Since 2015

Playing times in the NBA

year	Victories: defeats	Wins [%]	Play-offs
2008/09	23:59	28.0	Not qualified for the play-offs
2009/10	50:32	61.0	2: 4 in the first round against the Los Angeles Lakers
2010/11	55:27	67.1	1: 4 in the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks
2011/12	47:19	71.2	1: 4 in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat
2012/13	60:22	73.2	1: 4 in the Western Conference semifinals against the Memphis Grizzlies
2013/14	59:23	72.0	2: 4 in the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs
2014/15	45:37	54.9	Not qualified for the play-offs
2015/16	55:27	67.1	3: 4 in the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors
2016/17	47:35	57.3	1: 4 in the first round against the Houston Rockets
2017/18	48:34	58.5	2-4 in the first round against the Utah Jazz
2018/19	49:33	59.8	1: 4 in the first round against the Portland Trail Blazers
2019/20	44:28	61.1
total	582: 376	60.8%	54:53 in the play-offs ( 50.0% ) As of: Reg.Season August 2020

Seasonal balance sheet for the entire franchise (as of April 2019)

Franchise office	Victories: defeats	Won [%]	Playoffs
Seattle SuperSonics	1745: 1585	52.4	107: 110 in the play-offs (49.3%) - 1 NBA championship
Oklahoma City Thunder	582: 376	60.8	054:53 in the play-offs (50.0%)
total	2327: 1961	54.3	161: 163 in the play-offs (49.7%) - 1 NBA championship

Web links

Commons : Oklahoma City Thunder  - Collection of pictures, videos, and audio files

• official website
• Official squad of the team

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ESPN.com (November 19, 2005) Star: Oklahoma City top candidate if team moves
2. ^ ESPN.com (October 24, 2006) NBA approves sale of Sonics, Storm
3. ^ Seattlepi.com (November 2, 2007) Bennett says Sonics going to Oklahoma
4. ^ ESPN.com (July 3, 2008) SuperSonics, Seattle reach last-minute settlement
5. ^ Seattle and Oklahoma City will share the Sonics' franchise history. In: The Seattle Times. July 6, 2008 ( seattletimes.nwsource.com ).
6. ↑ LeBron James leads Miami to the title . Retrieved July 15, 2012.
7. ↑ Match report with mention of the set record
8. ↑ Record curry cuts up the Thunder
9. ^ Magic Acquire Serge Ibaka From Thunder
10. ^ Warriors Sign Free Agent Forward Kevin Durant
11. ↑ 2016-17 Oklahoma City Thunder Roster and Stats | Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 31, 2017 . 
12. ^ Russell Westbrook Stats | Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 31, 2017 . 
13. ↑ Official release: Oklahoma City Thunder trade for All-Star swingman Paul George. NBA.com, accessed October 31, 2017 . 
14. ↑ Sam Presti's Team Building - NBA, BBL and Draft Basketball Analysis. Go-to-Guys.de, accessed on October 31, 2017 . 
15. ↑ It's official: Melo trade to Thunder announced. ESPN.com, accessed October 31, 2017 . 
16. ^ Report: Westbrook, OKC agree to five-year, $ 205M extension. SI.com, accessed October 31, 2017 . 
17. ^ From NBA media reports: Carmelo Anthony traded to Atlanta Hawks; Oklahoma City Thunder acquire Dennis Schroder. NBA.com, accessed July 29, 2018 .