For decades, Oklahomans made one of three decisions to watch NBA basketball: drive to Dallas, jump on flights to distant states or tune in from their couch. Many, however, didn’t have much of an interest in the league that didn’t have a regional connection.
Oklahoma City got a taste of the game when the New Orleans Hornets came to town for a couple of seasons following Hurricane Katrina. The adolescent city’s palate for professional basketball was evolving. It wasn’t until the Thunder arrived in in 2008 -- with a dynamic, muscle-bound, kinetic energy-filled point guard -- that the city felt its first love, and it fell hard.