Oklahoma City Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder are in name the NBA’s newest team, though the team was actually just renamed in 2008 after it was purchased as the Seattle Supersonics and relocated to Oklahoma City. The Thunder are the only top-tier sports team in the state, making them wildly popular with fans in Oklahoma (if decidedly less so in Seattle, where bereft Sonics fans often support whomever the Thunder are playing against!). A quick boom of success began in their second season after they drafted James Harden to complement Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, making their first playoff appearance in 2010, which they lost 4-2 to the Los Angeles Lakers. They continued their fine playoff form in subsequent seasons, reaching their first NBA Finals (first as the Thunder) in 2012, which they lost to the Miami Heat. The Thunder then went on to challenge the San Antonio Spurs and the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals of 2014 and 2016. Since then, they have struggled to recapture the energy of their initial burst into the league, bowing out in the First Round repeatedly before failing to make the playoffs in the last three seasons. With exciting young talents like Shai-Gilgeous Alexander and Jalen Williams, however, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s many avid fans will no doubt be raising the roof of Paycom Center as they aim for a return to the postseason in 2024.