In the wake of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s first NBA championship, fans have experienced a parade and a ton of disbelief, despite everything we watched unfold over the past nine months. It was a team that proved to be historically dominant in the regular season, finishing with the highest point differential in league history. While showing their youth and inexperience a bit in the playoffs, the Thunder kept it rolling — although at times to the detriment of all our blood pressures. Ultimately, this team’s talent and relentless defense won out, and the result is likely the most significant positive event to ever happen to the state of Oklahoma.
At one point in the celebration parade Tuesday, the players further contributed to this positivity by exiting the Championship-labeled buses and frolicking among the estimated 500,000 fans in attendance. Like true professionals, the bus drivers held it together and kept the train on the tracks, but it didn’t look easy.
Given our shared history, it’s difficult to overstate how impactful this is to a city and a state that has experience coming together and helping people in need; call it “teamwork,” if you will.
At a point in the parade, the players’ buses drove past the Oklahoma City National Memorial on the route toward Scissortail Park. A photographer captured the moment when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, MVP of the regular season and the Finals, stretched out his arms in celebration next to the Gates of Time. Unintentional or not, it’s an incredible image and one that encapsulates a story of triumph, on the court and off of it.
No matter what happens next season, or the one after that, we can look back on a time when we came together and celebrated something very special. But hey, doing it again would be fun, right?
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