It's a Thunder rule: To work in OKC, you must learn about OKC and what the bombing meant to the city
Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Isaiah Hartenstein was born in 1998, three years after Oklahoma City changed forever.
It was April 19, 1995, when a truck bomb detonated outside a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people in the deadliest homegrown attack on U.S. soil. Hartenstein didn't know much about the bombing when he joined the Oklahoma City Thunder last year.
And then — like everyone else who wears the Thunder logo — he had to learn.
'I think it just helped me kind of understand what the city's been through," Hartenstein said. "And from that, I learned how connective and supportive the city is.'
The Thunder didn't even exist in Oklahoma City when the bombing happened; the franchise that had been known as the Seattle SuperSonics didn't relocate to America's heartland until more than a decade later. But it has been part of the steadfast commitment that the team shows the city; the bombing still resonates deeply here, and the Thunder have taken great pains to not ignore the impact it had, and has, on Oklahoma City.
That is why every newly acquired player, even those on tryout contracts or just training camp deals, and every person who gets a job with the organization, has to go to the memorial. They see the 168 chairs, one created for every person who died in that bombing. They see pictures, they hear stories, they see how Oklahoma City reacted in the immediate aftermath and the months and years that followed.
'I was on that tour within a month of working here," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. "There's literally no one that has ever put a (Thunder) logo on their chest that has not been through there, because it's just such a big part of the story of the city. The kindness, the compassion that this city has, this community has, not only for the team but for one another ... it's probably born out of that shared experience this community has had.'
There is no NFL team in Oklahoma City, nor is there Major League Baseball (though the city does have a rich baseball history and streets named for all sorts of greats like Mickey Mantle, Joe Carter and Johnny Bench), or an NHL team. When it comes to the four major pro U.S. sports, the Thunder are the only game in town.
And the fans simply love their team. They come early, they leave late. The clapping is in rhythm, as are the 'O-K-C' chants (which sometimes get replaced now by 'M-V-P' chants for NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander).
'I mean, this crowd is amazing,' Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton said after the Pacers rallied in the final second and beat the Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night. 'They are all standing up doing claps and synchronized clapping to the beat before the game. I mean, this is an unbelievable crowd. It's the best crowd we've seen on the road all playoffs.'
Put simply, Oklahoma City is a place where people have each other's back. Hartenstein said one of the things that sticks with him, when he learned about the bombing, was that so many OKC residents flooded the area out of a willingness to help that some had to be told to go back home.
'At that time in this country, there was nothing like that," Daigneault said. "It was completely unprecedented and really rocked not only this city to its core, but the country to its core at a time where there was a lot more innocence around something like that in the world and in the country. It was a real shaping event, not only for the city, but the country.'
Thunder guard Alex Caruso remembers his tour as well; it came not long after he signed an Exhibit 10 contract and played for the franchise's G League affiliate.
What he saw, and what he learned, sticks with him even now.
'You just have so much empathy and sympathy for people that you know went through it and have to live with the consequences of that,' Caruso said. "I think the cool thing about the organization is no matter how big, small, what your role is on the team, you make a trip out there just to learn about the history of it, how it did impact the community and understand why the relationship is so tight between this team, the organization and the community.'
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
recommended
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox Sports
14 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Judge denies Zeigler's request for preliminary injunction trying to play 5th season
Associated Press KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday denied Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler's request for a preliminary injunction allowing him to play a fifth season of Division I basketball in five years. U.S. District Judge Katherine A. Crytzer listened to arguments in a hearing June 6 in Knoxville and entered her denial Thursday morning. She wrote that Zeigler failed to demonstrate he would likely succeed on his argument that the NCAA keeping him from playing a fifth season of Division I basketball is a violation under the Sherman Act. 'This Court is a court of law, not policy,' Crytzer wrote in her order denying the injunction. 'What the NCAA should do as a policy matter to benefit student athletes is beyond the reach of the Sherman Act and TTPA and by extension, this Court.' The two-time Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year asked for an injunction when he sued the NCAA on May 20 over its rules limiting him to four seasons in a five-year window as an unlawful restraint of trade under both federal and Tennessee laws. His lawsuit argues he could earn between $2 million and as much as $4 million with another season. The NCAA argued Monday that Zeigler's injunction request should be denied because he is asking the court to make him the first athlete in history to play a fifth season in Division I 'as a matter of right.' The judge asked Zeigler's attorneys to file a quick brief answering whether or not Zeigler is an 'intercollegiate athlete' as defined under state law and what legal standard applies to Zeigler's claim under the Tennessee Trade Practices Act. ___ AP college basketball: and recommended in this topic
Associated Press
14 minutes ago
- Associated Press
TikTok star Khaby Lame plays soccer in Brazil after US detention
SAO PAULO (AP) — Khaby Lame, the world's most-followed TikTok personality who left the U.S. after being detained by immigration agents, went to Brazil where he's been spending some time with friends, local authorities said Thursday. Lame is staying with AC Milan player Emerson Royal, and has been enjoying time with local fans, Paulo Eduardo Dias Junior, a city councilman from Americana, about 78 miles (125 kilometers) northwest of Sao Paulo, told The Associated Press. On Wednesday night, they played a friendly soccer match with locals. Lame left the United States after being detained on June 6 by immigration agents at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas for allegedly overstaying his visa. The Senegalese-Italian influencer, whose legal name is Seringe Khabane Lame, was allowed to leave the country without a deportation order, according to a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Junior organized Wednesday's match on behalf of the nonprofit he leads, Instituto Jr Dias. He said that Lame and Royal's participation helped collect 150 food baskets for vulnerable families. 'Emerson Royal is a role model for the children in our community, and so is Khaby, who is globally known through social media. He's a sensation among kids today,' Junior said. 'He had a lot of fun with the kids and played a lot.' The councilman said that the team that Lame and Royal were on won 3-1. Everything went smoothly, he added, except for the post-match celebration. As is tradition in Brazil, players gathered for a barbecue. But Lame preferred a parmegiana, so they took him to a local restaurant, Junior said. This is not Lame's first time in Brazil. Last year, he traveled to the country to attend Royal's wedding. Met Gala and then detention Lame arrived in the U.S. on April 30 and 'overstayed the terms of his visa,' an ICE spokesperson told the AP, which sent a message seeking comment Tuesday to the email address listed on Lame's Instagram account. He hasn't publicly commented on his detention. His detention and voluntary departure from the United States comes amid U.S. President Donald Trump's escalating crackdown on immigration, including raids in Los Angeles that sparked days of protests against ICE, as the president tests the bounds of his executive authority. A voluntary departure — which was granted to Lame — allows those facing removal from the U.S. to avoid a deportation order on their immigration record, which could prevent them from being allowed back into the U.S. for up to a decade. The 25-year-old Lame rose to international fame during the pandemic without ever saying a word in his videos, which would show him reacting to absurdly complicated 'life hacks.' He has more than 162 million followers on TikTok alone. The Senegal-born influencer moved to Italy when he was an infant with his working class parents and also has Italian citizenship. His internet fame quickly evolved. He signed a multiyear partnership with designer brand Hugo Boss in 2022. In January, he was appointed as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador. Last month, he attended the Met Gala in New York City, days after arriving in the U.S. ___ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at
Hamilton Spectator
16 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Judge denies Zeigler's request for preliminary injunction trying to play 5th season
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday denied Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler's request for a preliminary injunction allowing him to play a fifth season of Division I basketball in five years. U.S. District Judge Katherine A. Crytzer listened to arguments in a hearing June 6 in Knoxville and entered her denial Thursday morning. She wrote that Zeigler failed to demonstrate he would likely succeed on his argument that the NCAA keeping him from playing a fifth season of Division I basketball is a violation under the Sherman Act. 'This Court is a court of law, not policy,' Crytzer wrote in her order denying the injunction. 'What the NCAA should do as a policy matter to benefit student athletes is beyond the reach of the Sherman Act and TTPA and by extension, this Court.' The two-time Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year asked for an injunction when he sued the NCAA on May 20 over its rules limiting him to four seasons in a five-year window as an unlawful restraint of trade under both federal and Tennessee laws. His lawsuit argues he could earn between $2 million and as much as $4 million with another season. The NCAA argued Monday that Zeigler's injunction request should be denied because he is asking the court to make him the first athlete in history to play a fifth season in Division I 'as a matter of right.' The judge asked Zeigler's attorneys to file a quick brief answering whether or not Zeigler is an 'intercollegiate athlete' as defined under state law and what legal standard applies to Zeigler's claim under the Tennessee Trade Practices Act. ___ AP college basketball: and
