Thunder Journal: Top 10 Thunder Championship Moments
It’s been nearly two weeks since the Oklahoma City Thunder won the first championship in team history.
In the time since, there’s been a whole NBA Draft, a Dillon Jones trade, a rookie press conference, a Sam Presti end of season press conference, a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander supermax extension, an Ajay Mitchell supervalue extension and a Jaylin Williams supervibes extension. (And maybe by the time this goes to print, a Jalen Williams/Chet Holmgren supertwins extension).
Honestly, each one of those events deserve their own journal entry.
But the Thunder fanbase is still basking in the glow of victory that brought home that long sought after Larry O’Brien Trophy. So in the spirit of commemorating and remembering Oklahoma’s first ever professional league title, I now present…
Top 10 Thunder Championship Moments
10. “We the f#@%g champs!”
The Thunder celebration day started with a rousing speech from one beloved role player and ended with a rowdy speech from another beloved role player. JWill’s call and response with a cartoonishly packed Scissortail Park ended with an NSFW proclamation that had Mayor Holt burying his face and Thunder fans everywhere threw up their fists.
9. Dort's moonball
When Luuuuuuuu hit that desperate, sky high buzzer beater coming out of halftime in Game 7, it was one of those impossible buckets that made you think it might just be your night. And ‘your night’ on this night meant an NBA title. Ray Guy would’ve been jealous of that hang time.
8. SGA wins Finals MVP
By the time Shai was announced as Finals MVP, it was merely a formality. But what it represented to SGA’s legacy was significant. It was the final bow on a season that included a scoring title, regular season MVP, Western Conference Finals MVP and Finals MVP. One of the greatest individual seasons in league history. The fact that he shared it with Jalen Williams was just icing on the cake.
Cray Allred
7. OKC needs Chet
Game 4 of the NBA Finals was the turning point in the title run. SGA’s heroics were critical (more on that later) but so was OKC’s late game defense, which was fueled by Chet Holmgren playing on about 4 rolled ankles. Earlier in the game when Chet went down hard, a mic’d up SGA was heard telling his 23 year old big man: “You okay? You sure? Come on baby, we need you. Get up.” Chet got up. And played a vital role in turning the series.
6. Loud City
This isn’t just one moment. It’s pretty much every moment from Games 1, 2, 5 and 7. OKC’s atmosphere has always had the reputation of being one of the loudest and most passionate in the NBA. And while The Paycom Center has continued to carry the volume baton that had been passed previously from The Ford Center to The Chesapeake Energy Arena, the legend of Thunder fan noise in playoffs past seemed too big to ever topple. But I can say without a doubt that The Paycom got to those Russ/KD era passion peaks yet again. The NBA should crank out an extra 18,203 championship rings, because the Thunder don’t win a title without Loud City.
Stereos have maximum volume levels. Televisions have maximum volume levels. Beats By Dre have maximum volume levels. Apparently, The Paycom Center does not have a maximum volume level. Somehow, Loud City went to another level for Game 5 and was louder than any Thunder game I've ever witnessed. - Brandon Rahbar, Daily Thunder
5. Jalen Williams drops 40
It’s funny now to remember that the biggest question from the outside about OKC’s title hopes was whether or not JDub was ready to be the second scorer on a championship team. The answer is a resounding yes. The Thunder took the series lead for the first time after Game 5 and that does not happen without JDub rising to become a superstar playoff performer. The 24 year old All-Star quieted any remaining critics by going 14-25 from the field including 3-5 from three and 9-12 from the line. Thunder fans have long known how important JDub is to OKC’s success, but this was a coming out party for the rest of the world.
4. The SGA Memorial photo
There were some instantly iconic pictures taken during the championship parade. SGA carrying the Thunder flag. JDub raising the trophy to thousands of Thunder fans while the OKC flag waved over him. But none of them resonated or meant more to every Oklahoman than SGA’s outstretched arms on a championship bus in front of the OKC Memorial. As Sam Presti said: “That one is going to be around forever.”
3. SGA’s Game 4 takeover
Down 2-1 in the series. Pacers up big all game. The Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd going nuts. OKC’s title hopes looking dim. And the league MVP hit big bucket after big bucket after big bucket. In the most important stretch of the entire season... with the season on the ropes... Shai scored 15 points in the final 5 minutes to save the game, save the season and save the championship.
2. Aaron Wiggins' speech
You can measure the degree of Thunder fan someone is by how many times they’ve watched the clip. Double digits? True die hard. Once? The streets might call you a casual. Over 100? You are likely a Daily Thunder beat writer.
1. Lifting the Larry O’Brien Trophy
The moment every Thunder fan has waited for since the 3-29 start in 2008, to the meteoric rise of the first Thunder era, to the standing ovation to conclude that first playoff series loss versus Kobe and the Lakers, to the thrill and heartbreak of the 2012 Finals, to the Harden trade, to the back to back to back injuries to Russ/Ibaka/KD in contending seasons, to Game 6 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals, to KD’s hardest road, to Russ staying in OKC for his MVP season, to the Paul George trade, to the OK3, to the SGA trade, to the special CP3 season, to the Poku rebuild years, to drafting Chet and JDub, to the meteoric rise of the new Thunder era, to the final play of Game 6 versus Luka and the Mavs, to 68 wins and SGA winning MVP, to the fear of being down 2-1 to Jokic and the Nuggets, to the fright of being down 2-1 to Haliburton and the Pacers, to being down at halftime of Game 7.
The image of Clay Bennett, Sam Presti, Mark Daigneault, SGA, JDub, Chet, Dort and this entire, special squad holding up that trophy while 18,203 fans cheered with euphoric joy was the culmination of a 17 year bond between organization and fanbase that will be forever cherished and never forgotten.
Cray Allred
