Our championship year has been the greatest year in our city’s history. Not just from the thrill of victory, but because our success on the basketball court became a prism through which the world viewed our city’s renaissance. Like never before, it was our year of arrival on the world stage. That new plateau doesn’t reset. We’ll build upon it from here.
On behalf of the people of Oklahoma City, thank you to the entire Thunder organization - the players, the coaches, the staff and the owners - for what you have given our city, and for what you will continue to give our city. Though this season didn’t end exactly the way we wanted, we know that we have years of basketball excellence ahead of us (much of which will be experienced in a new world-class arena).
The bond between this team and this city is unlike anything else in major league professional sports. Thunder Up Forever.
So Wemby elbows our guy in the face and the Thunder have to use a challenge to get it reversed AND Wemby still gets a free-throw out of the deal.
It even got Tirico quietly mentioning that that was Wemby's FIRST foul in the last FIVE quarters of this series. Wheew.
Gameday. This shirt you will wear. This chair you will not use. It is Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals.
For only the second time in NBA history, both teams facing each other in a Game 7 have at least 62 wins. This heavyweight series has reached its final chapter. And though only the players get to touch the basketball, our fans in the arena tonight in downtown OKC will help determine the outcome.
In the playoffs this year and last, the Thunder are 17-3 at home and 10-7 on the road. At home or on the road, it’s the same players, the same coaches, the same basketballs, but the results are quite different. The difference is you.
Tonight, if you’re in the arena, you will give it everything you have for 48 minutes. By the end, you should be as exhausted as the players. You must always remember that it is a privilege and an obligation to be in that arena tonight. You are not a mere spectator. You are carrying the cheers and the hopes of millions of Thunder fans watching on TV across Oklahoma City and the world. You are there tonight to claim sports immortality on behalf of Thunder fans everywhere.
To the fans in the arena tonight - Arrive early. No sitting except in timeouts. Get back for the start of the third quarter. Give it everything you’ve got for all 48.
To the fans in their living rooms or bars and watching across Oklahoma City and the world - We can hear you, too. We’re all In this together.
It’s Game 7. Thunder Up.
For the first time since 2006, the Carolina Hurricanes are going to the Stanley Cup Finals.
I'm about to play this song on a loop for the next four hours.
#SoundTheSiren