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USA Today
29-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Please stop using SuperSonics' history like it belongs to the Thunder
Please stop using SuperSonics' history like it belongs to the Thunder Excuse me, while I step on my soapbox about one of my least favorite technicalities in sports. (Ahem) Nothing about new reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Oklahoma City Thunder is even tangentially connected to the former Seattle SuperSonics. Not a single damn thing other than the fact that the Thunder used to reside in the Pacific Northwest hub before a hasty move to the Sooner State spurred by owner Clay Bennett's boundless greed for a shiny, new publicly-funded stadium. Not one thing. Note: To be clear, this is not a sanctimonious rant about Seattle losing its NBA team. That's a separate discussion altogether. So, as we get ready for these precocious Thunder to host the 2025 NBA Finals, here's my plea to any would-be sportswriters, sports announcers, social media editors, what have you. If the Thunder do wind up winning the title, and it sure looks like they probably will, please, PLEASE refer to this as the first championship in Thunder franchise history. In a just world, it should not be labelled as their "first title since 1979," which you may have heard a lot in recent weeks during the Thunder's playoff run. You know, 1979, a.k.a. when they were referred to as the SuperSonics ... in Seattle. Lenny Wilkens' and Dennis Johnson's champion 1979 SuperSonics are Seattle's history. Their lore belongs to the memories of Seattle fans, past, present, and future (maybe?). That should stay with them while these Thunder, who have now qualified for their second Finals appearance since moving to Oklahoma City in 2008, are allowed to write their own story with their passionate local fans charting all of their accomplishments to remember for years to come. Along those lines, it is frankly gross and disrespectful to the memory of the SuperSonics, all of their fans, and the Thunder, who, at this point, couldn't be any more distanced from their old city and supporters. I know this problem is born from a loose technicality where sports leagues like the NBA transfer over team history to franchises that skip town. It happened in the NFL with the Baltimore Colts when they became the Indianapolis Colts, and later when the Cleveland Browns became the Baltimore Ravens (before the Browns returned). It happened in MLB when the Montreal Expos became the Washington Nationals. It'll also likely happen with the Athletics, assuming they ever actually do make a clean break from Oakland. Maybe it's an issue of deciding where to keep a franchise's extensive database when it moves cities. This feels solvable by no longer archiving that history for the new city or by suspending operations outright rather than continuing a charade. But I digress. Pretending a sports team's history stays with an organization when it uproots itself from a community doesn't sit right with me. Because that's not what this whole sports obsession thing is all about. No reasonable person from Oklahoma City watching Gilgeous-Alexander and Co. ruthlessly dismantle their competition even associates the Thunder with Seattle anymore. They are too far gone and have experienced too much success in a short time in their no-longer-new digs. The Thunder have their own moments of brilliance, heartbreak, and joy that exclusively belong to the people in Oklahoma now. And no reasonable person who reveled in the 1979 Sonics and the later glory days of Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton in the 1990s can make a connection to the unrecognizable Oklahoma City version. It's not their jerseys, their arena, their players, or their team. It's not a pillar of their community. It just isn't. The Thunder and the SuperSonics, as we knew them, are two entirely separate entities with two entirely separate histories only merged together by one of the more painful happenings Seattle sports fans have ever experienced. That's it. Please, for my sanity and both of these fanbases' sakes, let's stop pretending any sort of connection remains.
Washington Post
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Thunder storms into NBA Finals, leaving broken Timberwolves in its wake
OKLAHOMA CITY — The polite reaction to what unfolded Wednesday night in America's heartland would be to salute the Oklahoma City Thunder for reaching the NBA Finals and to gloss over the gory details of how it happened. This was, after all, a long-awaited coronation for a small-market marvel. Oklahoma City's 124-94 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals returned the franchise to the Finals for the first time since 2012 and avenged a heartbreaking West finals loss to the Golden State Warriors in 2016. Thunder owner Clay Bennett and General Manager Sam Presti, who have guided the organization since its controversial relocation from Seattle in 2008, wore proud smiles during a trophy presentation after the series-clinching win at Paycom Center. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City's MVP point guard, clasped his hands together to acknowledge the 'Loud City' faithful. The other Thunder players bounced with joy to celebrate their latest emphatic victory. '[My teammates] make the NBA not feel like a job,' Gilgeous-Alexander said. 'We have so much fun being out there together. This isn't the end of the road. We didn't start the season saying we want to win the West. We want to win the NBA championship. We're one step closer.' But telling the full story of the Thunder requires closely examining the Timberwolves, who were reduced to a broken and dysfunctional mess in the series clincher. Knowing that Minnesota's season was on the line, Oklahoma City played with unforgiving focus from the outset that bordered on sadistic. The Thunder didn't just beat the Timberwolves, it robbed Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle and company of their will to compete. In what was ostensibly a feel-good moment, Oklahoma City was so ruthless it was hard not to come away feeling bad for Minnesota. Still feeling the pain of a devastating last-second defeat in Game 4, Minnesota showed up Wednesday in body, but not mind or spirit. The Timberwolves were cooked midway through the first quarter, they trailed by 33 points at halftime, and they pulled their starters with more than six minutes left in the game. Fittingly, Edwards didn't even wait until the final buzzer to offer a congratulatory hug to Thunder Coach Mark Daigneault. Less than 10 days ago, the Timberwolves swaggered into Oklahoma City fresh off playoff series wins over the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors with the goal of bullying Gilgeous-Alexander and upsetting the top-seeded Thunder. After three blowout losses in cowboy country, the pitiful Timberwolves simply wanted to get out of Dodge. '[The Thunder] came ready to play and we didn't,' Edwards said. 'When you lose a game like this, there isn't really too much to break down. They dominated the game from the tip. We lost. I can't think about how close I might have gotten [to the Finals]. They punched us in the face, and we lost the game and lost the series.' Gilgeous-Alexander posted 34 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in just 34 minutes to earn Western Conference finals MVP honors, applying the finishing touches to a series he dominated. Afterward, Gilgeous-Alexander said he wanted to close the series in five games because he 'didn't want to go back to Minnesota travel-wise.' Whether he meant to sound so dismissive or not, Gilgeous-Alexander dispensed with the Timberwolves on the court with a few easy flicks of his wrist. Though Game 5 featured another heavy dose of Gilgeous-Alexander's silky shooting, Thunder guard Alex Caruso provided the signature moment. After being knocked to the court by a hard foul from Naz Reid, Caruso cranked out several push-ups on the spot, popped to his feet with an ear-to-ear grin and egged on the home crowd. 'Go ahead,' Caruso seemed to be saying. 'Hit me again.' The Timberwolves folded instead. Edwards, harassed by the Thunder's many skilled perimeter defenders, was just another bystander during the early onslaught. Randle, overwhelmed by the Thunder's pressure all series, seemed to spend most of Game 5 frantically looking around for the basketball after committing yet another turnover. Minnesota managed just nine points in the first quarter. By halftime, the Timberwolves still had more turnovers (14) than made baskets (12). Edwards, who compiled most of his 19 points and six rebounds after the game had already been decided, tossed up three air balls on a night to forget. '[The Thunder is] like 15 puppets on one string,' Edwards said. 'They're super handsy. They pluck at the ball all night. They pressure the ball and get you out of your comfort zone. They're a really good team. Everyone here knows it. It's no surprise.' For the second straight season, the 23-year-old Edwards ended on a down note in the Western Conference finals. The three-time all-star, who was outplayed by Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic last year, averaged 23 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists against the Thunder, but he shot just 28.2 percent on three-pointers and committed 3.2 turnovers per game. '[Edwards has] got to learn to play against that physicality and that type of holding all the time,' Timberwolves Coach Chris Finch said. '[The Thunder] made it really hard for him. For a lot of the series, he did make the right play. We preach that to him all the time. We need him to be aggressive, for sure. He's got to find some easier buckets. I've got to help him do that. We were never able to establish something consistent with him.' The Timberwolves weren't any better defensively. Gilgeous-Alexander got wherever he wanted on the court, dancing past Jaden McDaniels on the perimeter and dicing up Rudy Gobert once he reached the paint. Jalen Williams (19 points, eight rebounds and five assists) and Chet Holmgren (22 points and seven rebounds) encountered little resistance, and the Timberwolves had no interest in making the extra-effort plays that are necessary to win at this late stage of the playoffs. Worst of all, the Timberwolves died as they lived: incessantly moaning to the officials. While Minnesota lacked the heart to keep up with Oklahoma City for more than five minutes, it somehow found the lung capacity to keep whining deep into the fourth quarter despite a deficit that topped out at 39 points. These troubling signs — Edwards's shrinking, Randle's perpetual confusion, the Timberwolves' collective persecution complex — are all testaments to the Thunder's ability to exhaust and chew up opponents. Oklahoma City's staggering portfolio will loom ominously in the lead-up to Game 1 of the Finals against the Indiana Pacers or New York Knicks on June 5. Across the regular season and postseason, Oklahoma City has an 80-18 record, a 43-7 home record and 61 double-digit victories. During this playoff run, the Thunder has amassed a sparkling plus-10.8 average margin of victory, including four wins by at least 30 points. And don't forget: Oklahoma City went 29-1 against Eastern Conference teams during the regular season, including sweeps of both the Pacers and Knicks. Perhaps that's the only consolation for the Timberwolves: They weren't the first team to tap out against the Thunder, and they might not be the last. 'We had it all going,' Daigneault said. 'The focus through the distraction of a closeout game to go to the Finals is what was most impressive. We were laser focused. That allowed our best to come to the surface. This is such a fun team. We're happy we're going to the Finals, but I don't want it to end. I don't want to stop coaching this team.'
