Oklahoma City Thunder or formerly the Seattle Supersonics is one of the rising NBA teams today and one of the top teams in the Western Conference.
They have young players that have great potential to be superstars. They are currently lead by the best scorer in the NBA who is Kevin Durant and the athletic and skillful point guard and all-star Russell Westbrook. They are joined in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference, and their homecourt is the Oklahoma City Arena.
History
The previous Thunder, the Seattle Supersonics was organized in 1967. In the early years of their history, they have reached consecutive Finals versus the Washington Bullets,losing in the seven games in the year of 1978 and winning in five the next year.
That Seattle’s win is the only modern-era championship in the city’s major-sports history. In the 1990’s, Seattle was a powerhouse in the NBA, with Gay Payton and Shawn Kemp leading the team. They drafted Shawn Kemp in the 1989 NBA draft and Gary Payton in 1990. Their head coach was George Karl, along with them is Nate McMillan, and other significant players.
They improved into a top title-contender team in the early 90’s. They are always qualified in the postseason starting 1991 up until 1998. The Seattle Supersonics recorded a winning standing of 64-18 season and it is the most wins for the franchise in the 1995-1996 NBA season. They also reached their franchise’ third NBA Finals appearance.
They faced the 72-10 Chicago Bulls in that series and lost in the six games. After that season, the Sonics team’s prowess is starting to deteriorate with their key players retiring and being traded from Seattle.
Their next good season was in the2004-2005 NBA season where they surprised the NBA with their record of 52 win 30 losses but got an early departure in the second roundof the postseason against the San Antonio Spurs. Kevin Durant and Jeff Green were drafted in the 2007 NBA Draft.
They had a very young team at that time, though Durant and Green has outstanding skills and performance, their team finished with the worst season of the franchise history with 20 wins and 62 losses.
To summarize Sonics achievements, they have a standing of 1,745-1585 win-loss record, three Western Conference champions and one NBA title.
The creation of Thunder was when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Louisiana, where the New Orleans Hornets temporarily transferred to Oklahoma City. The city proved that it could support an NBA franchise like how it showed its support for the Hornets.
In 2006, a group of Oklahoma City investors lead by Clay Bennett bought the SuperSonics for 350 million dollars which was approved by NBA owners the following October. The 2008-2009 NBA season is the Inagural season of the Thunder.
They finished the season with a record of 23 wins and 59 losses, an improvement from their previous season. The 2009-2010 season of the Thunder was the turnaround of their franchise where their star player Kevin Durant leads them with his scoring ability and leadership.
They improved into a winning team and had a record of 50 wins and 32 losses which gave them the qualification to be in the postseason. In the current season, as they added players with more experience like Kendrick Perkins, they hope to improve their season standing in the Western Conference.
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