Why the Thunder’s first NBA title means so much to Oklahoma City
Faith, hope, love and resiliency all help explain the tears that flowed.
OKLAHOMA CITY — It’s the juxtaposition.
The juxtaposition between then and now.
The juxtaposition between Oklahoma City’s darkest day and its brightest.
I couldn’t figure out — until a single photo crystallized my vision — why I felt so much joy and emotion when the OKC Thunder won the NBA Finals on Sunday night.
After all, baseball is my passion. I entered the sports Promised Land in 2023 when my beloved Texas Rangers — 41 years after I attended my first game — finally won the World Series.
On the other hand, I’m typically only a casual fan of the Thunder. I attend a few regular season games a year with my family. I pay a bit more attention when the playoffs start.
Why then did Oklahoma City claiming its first NBA championship mean so much to me?
The juxtaposition, that’s why.
A transplanted native Texan, I relocated north of the Red River in 1986 to attend Oklahoma Christian University. I met the love of my life — a lifelong Oklahoman named Tamie — in 1988. We married in 1990. I started work at The Oklahoman, the daily newspaper in Oklahoma City, in 1993. The first of our three children, all born in Oklahoma, arrived that same year.
Then came April 19, 1995.
That date will remain forever etched in the hearts and souls of Oklahomans: The deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history claimed 168 lives and wounded hundreds.
At the 30th anniversary two months ago, I reflected on how covering the biggest story of my life — and my adopted hometown’s response to it — changed me.
I wrote:
I didn’t lose a loved one. I suffered no physical injuries. But I — like the rest of my devastated community — witnessed the attack on the Heartland up close.
I didn’t realize until years later how deeply the bombing — and the weeks, months and even years spent reporting on it — touched me. I pretended that I, as a hard-nosed newspaperman, was immune from such a tragedy changing me.
I was wrong.
Back to the juxtaposition: On Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of people filled downtown Oklahoma City for a parade celebrating the Thunder’s championship.
“There are 712,000 people who live in OKC, and there may have been more people than that today on the streets of Downtown,” Mayor David Holt said on Facebook. “For two uninterrupted miles, Thunder fans were stacked deep on both sides of the street to celebrate, and tens of thousands gathered in Scissortail Park. Whatever the total number, it was unquestionably the largest gathering in our city’s history.”
Back to the photo I referenced earlier: The image was taken by Jimmy Do and shared by the team.
It shows superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and other Thunder players in an open-air bus, surrounded by fans and passing by the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s outstretched arms perfectly frame the message on one of the massive bronze Gates of Time at the memorial:
We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity.
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