Oklahoma City Thunder

Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals came down to a two-point margin against the Indiana Pacers, and it was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who put up 29 points to close it out. That title, the franchise's second, arrived forty-six years after its first, which came in 1979 under a different name in a different city.

The Thunder started out as the Seattle SuperSonics in 1967. Ownership under Clay Bennett moved the team to Oklahoma City in July 2008 after a legal settlement with the city of Seattle, and on 3 September that year the franchise dropped its old identity for good, taking new colours and a new name. The 1979 championship banner travelled with it.

Kevin Durant won his MVP award there in 2014, Russell Westbrook won his in 2017, and James Harden collected Sixth Man of the Year in 2012 before all three moved on to other teams.

Games against the Dallas Mavericks carry the sharpest edge, an Oklahoma-Texas rivalry that needs no further explanation for anyone who follows either state. The 2014 playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies is remembered differently, for five games that went to overtime rather than for bad blood.