The Oklahoma City Thunder

While there are many great sports all throughout the world, my favorite has always been the amazing sport known as basketball. Ever since I was a kid, basketball has always been a major part of my life. Whether it be watching basketball at a Hawkeye game, playing basketball with my friends, or even just playing a basketball video game, basketball has just always been something I enjoyed. Because of this, it is natural that one of my favorite things to watch on television is the NBA. While I also enjoy watching NFL games on TV, or other sports, basketball has always been the sport I was most excited to watch, and one of my absolute favorite teams to watch in the NBA has to be the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Growing up, my dad was always a huge San Antonio Spurs fan. He remembered the good old days back when David Robinson was still in his prime and when Tim Duncan had just entered the league out of Wake Forest. Because of this, my dad had basically programmed me to like the Spurs. For a while they were the only team in the NBA I cared about. However, as time passed and as the Spurs got older, I began to start watching some of the younger, and in my opinion, more exciting teams throughout the league. One of those teams happened to be the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The first time I really started watch the Oklahoma City Thunder was during the 2010-2011 NBA Playoffs. As I usually do, I tried watching every playoff game that I could, but I understood that some were much more exciting than others. Because of this, I did not watch much of the Thunder's first round in the playoffs where they defeated the Denver Nuggets four games to one in the best-of-seven series. However, I did pay attention in their next series against the Memphis Grizzlies who had just upset, to the dismay of my father and I, the San Antonio Spurs. Back then I was only 11 years old, so I was really upset that the team that I thought was my favorite lost, so naturally, I rooted heavily for the Oklahoma City Thunder, wanting them to absolutely demolish the Grizzlies.

In the first game, the Grizzlies upset the Thunder at Oklahoma City, and I became very doubtful that this team would beat the team that took down the Spurs, but I still tried to remain optimistic. In the second game, the Thunder struck back with a win, and a little glimmer of hope began to awaken inside of me. I started to really appreciate this team that I had never payed an attention to in the past. They had a great roster with Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant along with Serge Ibaka and James Harden. Little did I know that all four of these players would absolutely explode to become amazing basketball players in the years to come. They were also very exciting to watch, with Russell Westbrook's explosiveness and Kevin Durant's unbelievable shooting range. Serge Ibaka was also very exciting because he was a hustle player who could always come up with a huge block when he was needed and James Harden could always provide a much-needed spark coming off the bench. As the series between the Grizzlies and the Thunder progressed, the teams went back-and-forth with each game more exciting than the next. One of the games even went to a triple-overtime with the Thunder eventually winning after a monstrous 40-point performance by Westbrook. Eventually, the series came down to game seven, which would be played at Oklahoma City. After a triple-double by Russell Westbrook and an incredible 39-point barrage by Kevin Durant, the Thunder came up with the W and advanced for the first time since their move to Oklahoma City to the NBA Western Conference Championships. Unfortunately, they lost to a very talented Dallas Mavericks team who went on to defeat the Miami Heat for the NBA Finals Championship.

When the next season began, the Thunder became the team I had the highest priority for in terms of who I wanted to watch. As the season went on, I began to realize that although my dad had raised me to be a San Antonio Spurs fan, the Thunder were my knew favorite team. That season, the Thunder went all the way to the Finals after beating my dad's favorite and my former favorite team, the Spurs to play against the Miami Heat. Unfortunately, they lost in the Finals after five games, but I knew the team still had more potential and the years to come would be great.

I was very upset, however, during the off-season to learn that James  Harden had chosen not to re-sign with the Thunder and instead sign with the Houston Rockets. I understood his decision, though, because former head coach Scott Brooks refused to play him in the starting five, wishing him to stay as a sixth man coming off the bench. Harden, believing he had much more potential instead chose to move to Houston where he would play as the star player and always have the ball in his hands during the last seconds of the game.
This transaction proved to be very crucial in Oklahoma City's next season. The Thunder did have a great run that season, finishing the regular season as the top seed in the Western Conference. However, the eighth-seeded team that they went up against happened to be the team that now had their former third-best player, James Harden. The Thunder ultimately went on to win that series 4-2, but it came at a cost. During the second game of the series, Russell Westbrook, who had never missed an NBA game in his entire career, was injured during a play for a loose ball, and was declared out for the rest of the season after a knee surgery. Without James Harden, and now without Westbrook, Kevin Durant was unable to carry his team past the second round where they lost against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Over the next few seasons, the Thunder began to grow as a team and adjust without Harden. Durant was able to win MVP for the first time the following season, and the season after that, Russell Westbrook became tremendously better getting a whole lot of triple-doubles. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are one of the many reasons I like the Oklahoma City Thunder. I think they have a great roster with, in my opinion, two of the most talented players in the NBA, and I think if they can develop a good bench, they can once again be a top contender for the NBA Finals. I also just really enjoy the traditions at OKC such as the fact that at every home game in the Chesapeake Energy Arena, all the fans remain on their feet until a Thunder player has scored a basket. The team colors are also a reason I like the Thunder as I think Blue, Orange, and White go really well together. The Thunder are just, in my opinion, an incredibly excellent and exciting team, and I will continue to root for them for a long time.