Oklahoma City Thunder Championship: How OKC Celebrated History

Jennifer Jones
Jul 5
3 min read

Living in Oklahoma City during the Oklahoma City Thunder's historic NBA Championship run has been absolutely electric. The city hasn’t just been watching the games — we’ve been living them. Thunder tchotchkes are everywhere. Shirts, jerseys, hats, flags — you name it. Oklahoma is proud of this team, and you can feel it on every street corner.

Even though the championship series is over, the pride hasn’t faded. Everywhere I look, people are still rocking their Thunder gear like it’s a badge of honor. It’s more than sports — it’s identity.

🏀 The Parade Felt Like a Citywide Hug

The Thunder Championship Parade through downtown OKC was its own experience.

For two full days, the energy in the city was so high that even the cell towers seemed overwhelmed. Internet in my office downtown was basically nonexistent. Video calls? Forget about it. Audio? Barely.

But it was all worth it.

On parade day, I walked down to the route. Thousands of people were already there. Despite the blazing heat and delays, the crowd never lost its spirit. People were joyful. Cheering. Laughing. I didn’t see a single fight or temper flare — just pure, collective happiness.

When the players finally rolled through the streets, you could feel their joy — not just see it. It radiated from the buses and floats. Their pride became our pride.

🍞 Southern Rolls & Small-World Moments

That sense of shared pride followed me out of state.

Matt and I were in Missouri for the weekend, and I wore my Thunder t-shirt to Lambert’s Café (Home of the Throwed Rolls — yes, that Lambert’s). Side note: if you haven’t been and you love classic Southern comfort food, go hungry. The rolls are to die for. And yes, they really do throw them across the room.

Our waiter spotted my shirt and asked if we were from Oklahoma.

“Yes,” we said.

“I love the Thunder,” he responded immediately. “I grew up going to games.” (He had moved to Missouri in 2017 and couldn’t have been more than 20 now — so “grew up” might mean something different to him than it does to me — but hey, it's all your perspective.)

He even sat down across from us for a few minutes, just talking Thunder basketball like we were old friends.

That’s the thing about sports fandom — it bridges generations, geographies, and total strangers over shared memories and passion.

🤝 In a Divided World, the Thunder Brought Us Together

What’s been fascinating through all this is how a world that feels so divided, so polarized on so many fronts, can still come together. For one team. One city. One moment.

It reminded me that while our differences often grab headlines, unity quietly shows up too —in t-shirts, in roll-throwing diners, and in 100-degree parades.

Right now, in Oklahoma City, that unity spells Thunder.