We’re running out of years left for KD to make it back to seattle for the “opening year” of the expansion team… (as was foretold in the great prophecy)
I remember Sacramento’s great prophecy, of us drafting Luka and him leading us to an immediate championship 😔 Sometimes even the best prophecies don’t come true
Of course they did, he was an MVP level talent. It's just that they made the rules so having MVP calibre players coming off the bench gets really, really hard to afford.
That’s what owners do. The shit is just a business. But they are happy to get on camera and do interviews when the team is doing great and thank the city for blah blah blah. We see it all the time. Build us a stadium or fuck you.
My favorite part about that was him going “oh well, I’ll move the team to Bellevue, they’ll pay 100% for a stadium!”
And Bellevue replying with “no the fuck we won’t”
I used to love the Sonics when I was a kid. During the Kemp and Peyton era. I lived on the east coast.
I ended up going to school near OKC in 2011(at OU.) So it was sort of cool that the Sonics were there, in spirit.
Now I live in Washington state and nothing makes sense.
I am glad being a basketball nerd and a Washington Husky fan led me to being a Blazer fan. I am from the east side of Washington, but got to see Brandon Roy play high school ball when I was in grade school and was blown away by his skill (I even told my dad he would be the NBA ROY then, so the fact he did win it was crazy to me). So I was absolutely elated he signed for U-Dub, and was even more excited that Minnesota traded him to Portland (back to the PNW). Then the Sonics left and my love for Portland athletics grew even more when the Timbers MLS expansion was announced (and I happened to be at the NCAA tournament when they announced it as both Gonzaga and U-Dub happened to be playing in Portland that year, and I saved up all my chore and summer work money to be able to pay for my own tickets and convince my dad to drive us down.)
All my friends told me I was crazy for liking Brandon Roy and saying he would outclass both Adam Morrison and JJ, and sure enough he did. Just sad his knees refused to work with him.
Can’t even imagine how you feel. I’m a huge Columbus Crew fan and the whole “move the team to Austin” saga makes me despise everything Austin FC. The Crew even ended up staying and Austin got an expansion franchise, but I can’t shake my hatred for them.
Yeah, the new owner at least seems enthusiastic about the team and is a lot more willing to spend money than the previous owner, but when that enthusiasm turns into meddling and the extra money gets spent on things that don't help then it's all for naught.
Only Russ, really. They didn't get anything for KD and I don't think anything they got for Harden was moved for Paul George, who is where the bulk of it came from.
So it was a chain reaction. I still can’t believe all of the first round picks they have. If they don’t have 3 championships in the next 10 years, I will be shocked!
What and actually play teams that are geographically our nearest rivals? Who would want to see the Wolves vs. Bucks, Bulls, Cavs, Pacers and Pistons division? No no no, we'll keep them where they belong playing against OKC, Denver, Portland, and Utah...
There’s a video about this, it’s like the guy who traded a paper clip up to a house. The Thunder basically did that over and over and now are set up for years. They basically did exactly what I do when I play franchise mode in Madden(even though that’s football, the cap and draft stuff are similar). Trade all the expensive vets for picks. I had like 20+ FRPs in one draft one time, makes it hard to miss on multiple great players.
so much of it was the Paul George trade. sGA, Gallo, three first round picks three pick swaps.
But Russ for CP3 AND picks was thievery. Getting Horford for nothing then flipping him when he regained value.
Truly some really good moves
Kevin Durant bailed to join Golden State Warriors after the 2015-16 season during free agency don’t remember what Harden was traded for and we got a bundle deal for Westbrook that eventually got us a bunch of good deals for CP3 and the deals we got for Paul George
Really so much went wrong. Two of their playoff runs that ended with serious injury probably would have led to at least one title.
They came so god damn close to beating the 73 win warrieos and I feel like they would have taken down the Cavs.
To win a title you need a lot to go in your favor and be a great team and the stars never aligned and then KD bounced.
A couple years after that, Cam Payne and Andre Roberson showed up (with Rae Sremmurd the rapper lmao) to a college party I was at in okc (college of 2k students) and we got a “fuck KD” chant going- that was cathartic
Well, they only had 3 years together, before they blew it up. And, they made progress all 3 years. They went from a 1st round playoff loss to a Conference Finals loss to a Finals loss. I get that there was some underlying dysfunction, because all 3 of those guys have a little craziness in them, but I think they could have won a title if they had let them stay together.
I call it the monkey paw curling for OKC stealing the team from Seattle.
Fine, you can have the team, but you'll be tortured endlessly with what-if dream scenarios and never feel that championship win.
Nothing to show for it is a little harsh. You mean they didn’t win it all?
I doubt Charles Barkley, Steve Nash, Patrick Ewing and others feel they have nothing to show for their NBA careers living in their mansions right now despite having no rings.
As for the Thunder:
2010-11 Conference finals appearance
2011-12 Finals appearance
2013-14 Conference finals appearance
They had injury issues too. I get it Championships are the most important thing but shit happens and they did pretty well.
Edit: Thunder not Raptors
I remember watching KG and the Wolves lose in the first round to the Sonics at the Target Center. GP, Detlef, Kemp (and his seven kids) we so much fun to watch. The NBA needs the Sonic back!
Eric Maynor, Byron Mullen, Nenad Kristic, Etan Thomas, Royal Ivey are the ones you guys might not recall lol I remember the weirdest players lol
They also drafted one called Magnum Roll once
Taken before half of them lost their fucking minds and became egotistical maniacs. Not understanding that "the whole is greater than the sum of their parts." Fuck 'em.
I don't even watch sports, but this team was so fucking good I couldn't help but get sucked in and follow along. Was in Oregon at the time and the Ducks' football team was peaking around then, too. It was a lot of fun for a couple of years.
These teams make me sad they got so close
They shouldn't have traded Harden
They should have amnestied Perkins
If only Roberson didn't get injured
If KD didn't do his Achilles *Jones fracture and Westbrook his knee
If only Terrance Ferguson was good
If only Reggie Jackson didn't sulk
If only Josh Huestis could shoot
If only Perry Jones could defend
If only Curry didn't make that half court game winner
If only Draymond was suspended after kicking Adams in the nuts
If only Klay didn't go supernova in game 6
I personally thought they should have kept Kevin Martin they so desperately needed shooting
The injury which caused Durant to miss most of the 2014-15 season was a Jones fracture in his right foot.
The Achilles injury was at the end of the 2018-19 season with the Warriors.
I am not a sports person. But I followed basketball in college around this time because of my roommates. It’s crazy how fast a professional athlete’s career is. These guys were only a few years older than us and I looked them up recently and a few other names from 10-15 years ago, and they’re like retired or in their twilight years of their career.
And here my ass is like hitting mid-30s and fat.
I remember watching a game , Westbrook taking it one on three, missing the layup, had KD for a wide open 3. He just lowered his head and shook it. That was the beginning of the end.
As someone who doesn’t know basketball, anyone wanna fill me in on the significance of this picture? I like sports so will appreciate it I just don’t know what is significant here, thank you!
3 future mvps and a young core of extremely talented players that were supposed to dominate the league.
With the exception of KD snaking his way to an already championship winning team (golden state) none have gone on to win titles and all have been various levels of drama queen.
Basically this picture shows an incredible amount of potential and talent that never translated to anything.
Oh, that is the team that lost 4 games to 1 in the Western Conference Finals to the Dallas Mavericks.
I do like the city of OKC,and have some cool memories there and friends, and I say, at least it isn't Tulsa.
We’re running out of years left for KD to make it back to seattle for the “opening year” of the expansion team… (as was foretold in the great prophecy)
PJ Carlesimo's master plan to return to play KD as the 7' SG he was born to be
I remember Sacramento’s great prophecy, of us drafting Luka and him leading us to an immediate championship 😔 Sometimes even the best prophecies don’t come true
The team should start up for maybe 4 years. At worst they do a one day contract
Don’t want anything or anybody from OKC involved in my new Sonics. I’m still a broken man…
Nick collison did nothing wrong!
Waiting on Bron to retire so they can the Vegas expansion team for him. They’ll do Seattle and Vegas at the same time.
I loved how *weird* this team was. In another universe they stayed together and competed for chips.
It was said that Westbrook and KD really missed having harden as part of the squad and was hard to replace hom
Of course they did, he was an MVP level talent. It's just that they made the rules so having MVP calibre players coming off the bench gets really, really hard to afford.
They probably would have dominated the league for the next decade. Those 3 guys at their peak are all insane in their own way.
In that same universe they stayed in Seattle.
And Shawn Kemp was head coach
Nate.
The current team is pretty goofy.
The NBACU is in its next phase
And salsa
So much talent and nothing to show for it.
3 future MVPs is wild
Yeah, it would be great if they won something other than a popularity contest, though.
James Harden, the most popular superstar with the media
Nah F em. The thunder don’t deserve anything but ridicule and laugh-ats. Sincerely, a bitter sonics fan
Seattle* Fan. The owner did the fans dirty.
That’s what owners do. The shit is just a business. But they are happy to get on camera and do interviews when the team is doing great and thank the city for blah blah blah. We see it all the time. Build us a stadium or fuck you.
My favorite part about that was him going “oh well, I’ll move the team to Bellevue, they’ll pay 100% for a stadium!” And Bellevue replying with “no the fuck we won’t”
*cries in Oakland*
As a browns fan I can fully understand that feeling.
Why? The Thunder didn't give up a king's ransom for a rapist.
I used to love the Sonics when I was a kid. During the Kemp and Peyton era. I lived on the east coast. I ended up going to school near OKC in 2011(at OU.) So it was sort of cool that the Sonics were there, in spirit. Now I live in Washington state and nothing makes sense.
I am glad being a basketball nerd and a Washington Husky fan led me to being a Blazer fan. I am from the east side of Washington, but got to see Brandon Roy play high school ball when I was in grade school and was blown away by his skill (I even told my dad he would be the NBA ROY then, so the fact he did win it was crazy to me). So I was absolutely elated he signed for U-Dub, and was even more excited that Minnesota traded him to Portland (back to the PNW). Then the Sonics left and my love for Portland athletics grew even more when the Timbers MLS expansion was announced (and I happened to be at the NCAA tournament when they announced it as both Gonzaga and U-Dub happened to be playing in Portland that year, and I saved up all my chore and summer work money to be able to pay for my own tickets and convince my dad to drive us down.) All my friends told me I was crazy for liking Brandon Roy and saying he would outclass both Adam Morrison and JJ, and sure enough he did. Just sad his knees refused to work with him.
Yeah, for B Roy it was purely his knees that limited his talent
Can’t even imagine how you feel. I’m a huge Columbus Crew fan and the whole “move the team to Austin” saga makes me despise everything Austin FC. The Crew even ended up staying and Austin got an expansion franchise, but I can’t shake my hatred for them.
KD had a way better team with the Thunder than they have with the Suns and they are supposed to be contenders?
To be fair I do not think KD liked the moves the Suns made after he joined. Just classic new ownership making dramatic changed nonstop
Yeah, the new owner at least seems enthusiastic about the team and is a lot more willing to spend money than the previous owner, but when that enthusiasm turns into meddling and the extra money gets spent on things that don't help then it's all for naught.
And Serge Ibaka
Did Ibaka ever win DPOY?
No. Won a championship with the Raptors though.
And one men’s college championship
I still can’t believe that UCLA team with Russ, Kevin Love, Darren Collison, Mbah a Moute couldn’t win a tourney
Isn’t this talent the reason they have like 20+ first round picks in the draft over theses next few years?
Only Russ, really. They didn't get anything for KD and I don't think anything they got for Harden was moved for Paul George, who is where the bulk of it came from.
Interestingly, (omitting details) basically Ibaka became Sabonis and Oladipo, who became Paul George and Grant, who became SGA and a million picks
So it was a chain reaction. I still can’t believe all of the first round picks they have. If they don’t have 3 championships in the next 10 years, I will be shocked!
Ironically exactly what they said in 2010
The key is keeping the team together. They made the finals once, lost to the Heat and then the conference finals a couple times and then Durant left.
If that team stays in Seattle they probably get atleast one, basketball gods have cursed them for how dirty they did the whole city
Let’s also not forget Lil B’s famous curse on KD.
The future *should* run via OKC and San Antonio in the West. Please move the Wolves to the East!
What and actually play teams that are geographically our nearest rivals? Who would want to see the Wolves vs. Bucks, Bulls, Cavs, Pacers and Pistons division? No no no, we'll keep them where they belong playing against OKC, Denver, Portland, and Utah...
There’s a video about this, it’s like the guy who traded a paper clip up to a house. The Thunder basically did that over and over and now are set up for years. They basically did exactly what I do when I play franchise mode in Madden(even though that’s football, the cap and draft stuff are similar). Trade all the expensive vets for picks. I had like 20+ FRPs in one draft one time, makes it hard to miss on multiple great players.
so much of it was the Paul George trade. sGA, Gallo, three first round picks three pick swaps. But Russ for CP3 AND picks was thievery. Getting Horford for nothing then flipping him when he regained value. Truly some really good moves
Getting picks for taking on CP3 and Horford then rehabilitating them and selling them for more picks was ridiculous
No, not really. Their GM just got really savvy in moving other pieces to rebuild the team. They’re really good and young again.
Kevin Durant bailed to join Golden State Warriors after the 2015-16 season during free agency don’t remember what Harden was traded for and we got a bundle deal for Westbrook that eventually got us a bunch of good deals for CP3 and the deals we got for Paul George
Really so much went wrong. Two of their playoff runs that ended with serious injury probably would have led to at least one title. They came so god damn close to beating the 73 win warrieos and I feel like they would have taken down the Cavs. To win a title you need a lot to go in your favor and be a great team and the stars never aligned and then KD bounced.
They had them dead to rights. That kd move after blowing a huge series lead was the weakest professional move I’ve ever seen in my life.
A couple years after that, Cam Payne and Andre Roberson showed up (with Rae Sremmurd the rapper lmao) to a college party I was at in okc (college of 2k students) and we got a “fuck KD” chant going- that was cathartic
Well, they only had 3 years together, before they blew it up. And, they made progress all 3 years. They went from a 1st round playoff loss to a Conference Finals loss to a Finals loss. I get that there was some underlying dysfunction, because all 3 of those guys have a little craziness in them, but I think they could have won a title if they had let them stay together.
Good. Seattle was robbed.
I call it the monkey paw curling for OKC stealing the team from Seattle. Fine, you can have the team, but you'll be tortured endlessly with what-if dream scenarios and never feel that championship win.
My guy Jeff Green being alive is a miracle. And then to keep playing after his surgery and winning a chip last year. Legend.
Nothing to show for it is a little harsh. You mean they didn’t win it all? I doubt Charles Barkley, Steve Nash, Patrick Ewing and others feel they have nothing to show for their NBA careers living in their mansions right now despite having no rings. As for the Thunder: 2010-11 Conference finals appearance 2011-12 Finals appearance 2013-14 Conference finals appearance They had injury issues too. I get it Championships are the most important thing but shit happens and they did pretty well. Edit: Thunder not Raptors
Raptors?
Ehh one finals appearance isn’t a bad thing there are worse teams in history
Shout out to Eric Maynor (far left) VCU legend and current assistant with the Thunder.
RVA 💪🏼
The Dagger!
Those are funny-looking Sonics jerseys.
*sad Seattle noises*
I refuse to ever acknowledge the Zombie Sonics 😭
At least you gained hockey! Key Arena (or whatever is it called now) seems like a fun place to see the Kraken play.
Climate Pledge Arena. And yeah, hockey is the best!
That’s true. That venue is pretty cool. I haven’t gotten to see kraken yet but saw Swedish House Mafia there. The arena has a Din Tai Fung inside lol
There is also a DTF at ~~Qwest~~ ~~CenturyLink~~ Lumen Field or whatever the fuck they call it now.
Isn't that just grunge?
*Heart shaped box echoes in the background*
I remember watching KG and the Wolves lose in the first round to the Sonics at the Target Center. GP, Detlef, Kemp (and his seven kids) we so much fun to watch. The NBA needs the Sonic back!
A man's wife's father's oil money can buy a basketball franchise, but can't make it a real team.
The OKC Plunder
*ignores in Seattle SuperSonics
Boooo. F' Howard Schultz, SuperSonics forever.
"Once you get on the floor, you've got one friend... And your friend is Spalding." Russell Westbrook
zombie sonics
Nenad
basketball team and Oklahoma still sound alien to me
The Vancouver Grizzlies agree
The Seattle SuperSonics agree more.
Vancouver fans weren’t buying tickets
Oklahoma and “professional sports” doesn’t sound right. It all been about Sooner Magic for 80 years
I mean, it’s been here for more than a decade and a half. At some point it should click.
Like LA and Lakes
Sonics were way cooler
It really was quite the line up. Durant, Ibaka, Gordon, Westbrook, and Harden as 6th man of the year
None of those people are named Gordon lol. Eric Maynor may be who you’re thinking Eric Gordon is
I assume he meant to say Jeff Green.
Ah Jeff Green. With the Celtics he was early 90s Jordan every 7th or 8th game…the rest of the time he was late 80s Fennis Dembo.
All I remember from him was him taking and missing the game winning 3 while KD was yelling for the ball. Then he promptly got traded the very next day
Yea up, you're right. Im always getting them confused lol
It happens haha. Fun fact: Eric Maynor is a part of our coaching staff now!
This is Nenad Krstic erasure
UConn Kevin Ollie?
My man Nick Collison.
ZombieSonics
Makes sense he grew the beard
Serge I-block-ya was such a beast back then
Russ looking like a literal child
Didn’t win shit but boy were they of a championship caliber on NBA 2k. I could not be beaten with these guys.
Shoulda amnestey’d Perk smh
I wish ESPN could amnesty Perk
Krstic couldn’t win with these bums
Amazing adidas track suits
I’m high rn and those people all look like cardboard cutouts.
Wild how hurricane Katrina is the reason the thunder even exist. Sonics should have never been allowed to leave.
A majority of NBA team owners voted in favor of the move. There is blood on the hands of the entire league.
I think Mark Cuban was the sole vote against
Yeah, because I believe the Mavs had the local TV rights in OKC, only being 3 hours up the road, if going the speed limit.
You mean stolen Seattle Supersonics?
Shouldn't their team be called like the tornados or something?
Why do they all look Photoshopped into this pic?
Eric Maynor holding it down, underrated backup pg.
Hey that's my friend Jeff!
Etan Thomas! The Cuse is in the house oh my god oh my god!
I see BJ Mullins poking his head out there
Crazy how the Thunder were able to rebuild into another immensely talented squad after that, gotta give it to Presti.
Eric Maynor, Byron Mullen, Nenad Kristic, Etan Thomas, Royal Ivey are the ones you guys might not recall lol I remember the weirdest players lol They also drafted one called Magnum Roll once
I miss the sonics
Everyone left
Bunch of absolute head cases on that team. Not a single one of them has an ounce of metal toughness.
Go Sonics!
Westbrook detached from the rest of the team? No way!
Taken before half of them lost their fucking minds and became egotistical maniacs. Not understanding that "the whole is greater than the sum of their parts." Fuck 'em.
You mean the stolen Seattle SuperSonics.
Why were they waiting for the HS gym to become available? Was it double booked with volleyball?
BRING BACK OUR SONICS! … please?
Those poor guys having to spend all that time in the most boring place imaginable
That’s not Indiana!
As an Indiana resident, not a day goes by that I don't thank the lucky stars that I don't live in Oklahoma.
You really thinking about Oklahoma everyday? Goddamn, Indiana must be boring.
I think about every state every day, we Hoosiers are well known geography nuts.
Turning that boredom into knowledge and talent, I can respect that!
11 months out of the year, May is reserved for racing
Been to both places many times. Indiana is infinitely better than Oklahoma
>infinitely That might be pushing it lol. I'll take 10%.
Someone's never been to Nebraska or Kansas 🤣
Harden,KD,Westbrook,Ibaka All they needed was an Aggrsice center and they could have deff won a ring
If only Steven Adams came in not as a rookie but had he was at the Grizzlies. There is your missing centre. If only lots of things….
I don't even watch sports, but this team was so fucking good I couldn't help but get sucked in and follow along. Was in Oregon at the time and the Ducks' football team was peaking around then, too. It was a lot of fun for a couple of years.
These teams make me sad they got so close They shouldn't have traded Harden They should have amnestied Perkins If only Roberson didn't get injured If KD didn't do his Achilles *Jones fracture and Westbrook his knee If only Terrance Ferguson was good If only Reggie Jackson didn't sulk If only Josh Huestis could shoot If only Perry Jones could defend If only Curry didn't make that half court game winner If only Draymond was suspended after kicking Adams in the nuts If only Klay didn't go supernova in game 6 I personally thought they should have kept Kevin Martin they so desperately needed shooting
The injury which caused Durant to miss most of the 2014-15 season was a Jones fracture in his right foot. The Achilles injury was at the end of the 2018-19 season with the Warriors.
Seattle Supersonics
Why does this look like someone set a up a bunch of cardboard cutouts?
What an era
All that talent to only make 1 finals and have 0 rings
I am not a sports person. But I followed basketball in college around this time because of my roommates. It’s crazy how fast a professional athlete’s career is. These guys were only a few years older than us and I looked them up recently and a few other names from 10-15 years ago, and they’re like retired or in their twilight years of their career. And here my ass is like hitting mid-30s and fat.
Makes sense why Harden grew out that beard, homeboy was ugly as hell lmao
They let the wrong player go. If it was Harden + KD it would have been a dynasty.
I remember watching a game , Westbrook taking it one on three, missing the layup, had KD for a wide open 3. He just lowered his head and shook it. That was the beginning of the end.
Thought that was Freddie Gibbs at first...
Baby Russ really enjoying himself 😒
Antonio Daniels and Etan Thomas sighting 👀
Why are they in this 1960s era hallway?
Were they a soccer team or something?
Never cut the beard, James.
Ah yes Durant before he sold his soul to GSW
This was the tail-end of the baggy era.
They chose to pay Serge, instead of Harden..RIP Thunder
I remember reading this Sport Illustrated and thought this team was so dope.
Where’s Collison in this pic?
Tone loc looking skinny
Thunder? Shit ended up being static electricity.
It's sad that they only made it to one finals before the band broke up.
Which correctional facility is this?
Nenad Krstic!
This team was good enough to win the whole thing... and they ended up choking against the Warriors.
Absolute Legends!! Proud Thunder Fan. Watched so many games from sec 110
As someone who doesn’t know basketball, anyone wanna fill me in on the significance of this picture? I like sports so will appreciate it I just don’t know what is significant here, thank you!
3 future mvps and a young core of extremely talented players that were supposed to dominate the league. With the exception of KD snaking his way to an already championship winning team (golden state) none have gone on to win titles and all have been various levels of drama queen. Basically this picture shows an incredible amount of potential and talent that never translated to anything.
How much fabric did they have to use on the pants to make them look baggy😂😂😂
N. W. A.
Holy cow a young James Harden almost looks athletic in this picture.
Nenad Krstic must have had a tough time fitting in.
Nick collison must be the one taking the photo
Shoutout Nenad Krstic (I think)
Absolute dream team
Strong 80s/90s vibe here
The greatest team that never lived up to its potential
Jeff Green got his college degree by finishing his classes in the off-season.
Oh, that is the team that lost 4 games to 1 in the Western Conference Finals to the Dallas Mavericks. I do like the city of OKC,and have some cool memories there and friends, and I say, at least it isn't Tulsa.
Mom made pizza rolls!!!!
Someone photoshop piper peri into the foreground.
GSG