Oklahoma City stands and waits just five days away from the start of the Thunder’s 10th season since relocating from Seattle. In the nine previous seasons, the Thunder has been extremely successful in a short amount of time. Five times has Oklahoma City raised a Northwest Division Title banner in Chesapeake Energy Arena, and while some say championship banners are the only ones that matter, that’s not exactly true.
When the Thunder arrived in the summer of 2008 as one of the youngest teams in the league, excitement was high, but after starting that first season with a 3-29 record, the move was looking questionable at best. However, just like Oklahoma does in dire situations, the team recovered and finished 20-30 in the final 50 games for an overall record of 23-59. It wasn’t pretty, but our city had its first professional sports team, and fans weren’t going to bail.
It took only until the third season in Oklahoma for the Thunder to win their first Northwest Division title, and they went on to went three more consecutive ones. The Thunder picked up the fifth one two seasons ago, and they look to be the favorite to win it again this year. Another division title will be nice to add to the collection, but every basketball fan knows that the Thunder have their eyes on a much bigger prize: raising the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy after winning the NBA Finals.
Article written by Zack Low. Follow @TheThunderGuys on Twitter and Instagram.