Meet the Thunder C an professional basketball make it in Oklahoma That That was the question on people’s minds in 2008 when the nn tthhee Seattle Supersonics moved to the state and were renamed the he Oklahoma City Thunder The answer came in just a few games The players were welcomed like old friends Not even a slow start could dim the fans enthusiasm The Thunder won over their fans the same way they win division titles They find exciting stars and smart unselfish players to support them They hire coaches who encourage team spirit And they rely on their fans for an extra boost of energy whenever they need it This book tells the story of the Thunder Much of it takes place in the Pacific Northwest where the team played d for more than 40 years and won a championship The Thunder der have their sights set on building on that success Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka are fired up after a good play during a 2013 14 game Oklahoma has proven to be a great home for the Thunder 5
Glory Days The story of the Thunder began 2,000 miles from Oklahoma h City in Seattle Washington The Supersonics or Sonics for short joined the National Basketball Association NBA in 1967 when the league expanded from 10 to 12 teams Seattle’s first victory came over the San Diego Rockets the NBA’s other new team that year The Rockets now play in Houston Okl h f h Th d b l f The Sonics faced the challenge of building their team from unwanted and unproven players This was even more difficult because a new league formed in 1967 the American Basketball Association ABA The ABA competed for many of the same players During the first few seasons in Seattle the team starred Lenny Wilkens Bob Rule and Tom Meschery Wilkens became player coach of the Sonics in 1969 70 That same season he led the NBA in assists and was named an All-Star 6
Competition between the NBA and ABA in the early 1970s drove up salaries in pro basketball Seattle’s owner Sam Schulman thought the best solution was to merge the leagues To get the attention of NBA owners he threatened to move the Sonics to California and join the ABA Eventually the NBA agreed with Schulman the Sonics stayed put and the leagues joined forces for the 1976 77 season In the meantime Schulman made headlines by signing the ABA’s top player Spencer Haywood In 1971 72 Haywood led the Sonics to their first winning season Two years later another big name came to Seattle when Hall of Famer Bill Russell was signed to coach the club Russell had won 11 championships with the Boston Celtics He guided Seattle to a second-place finish in the Pacific Division The Sonics had two exciting guards during this era Downtown Fred Brown and Donald Slick Watts Brown was famous for his long distance shooting Watts specialized in defense LEFT This postcard shows Seattle’s first winning team ABOVE As this old guide shows high-flying Spencer Haywood was the star of the Sonics in the 1970s 7
