A Love Story Within a Love Story: How I Became an Oklahoma City Thunder Fan
And my experience at Game 4 of the NBA Finals (THAT GAME!!!)
I am back from a whirlwind adventure where I checked off an item on my bucket list (which is a rather modest bucket list of, like, four things tops — and two of them involve NBA experiences). I had the TIME OF MY LIFE, so I wanted to share a little bit about it.
I know a hearty portion of readers here are Thunder fans (Thunder Up!!!), and I’ve been delighted to discover a handful of Pacers fans in the mix, too. While I’m usually gushing about books, food, and intentional joys that make life sparkle—this post will probably be as niche as I ever get (but also, this was an intentional joy that made my life sparkle).
If you’re interested in learning about how a non-sports fan became a diehard Thunder fan, or what it’s like to attend a major professional sports event, then read on. If not—no hard feelings! I’ll be back with regular programming later this week. This is just a fun little story about how I became a Thunder fan and a love story within a love story.
So let’s dive in. First off, are you into the NBA?
I’m firmly in the “my only favorite sport is the Oklahoma City Thunder” camp. My husband is a sports fanatic—if it’s an activity that involves a score, he’s watching (or at least it’s on in the background or he’s refreshing ESPN). He’s also a big Boston sports fan, and if you know any Boston sports fans, then YOU KNOW.
I do enjoy the NCAA March Madness tournament (and scoping out the new talent coming into the NBA), and hockey isn’t too bad. I’ll turn up to the Super Bowl for the snacks and non-sports entertainment (halftime and commercials), and I enjoy the event of a live baseball game for the hullabaloo of it all. And of course, if my kids are playing, I’m the #1 fan. But when it comes to college and professional sports, nothing is as fun to watch as basketball. Factor in the off-court drama, and my passion for the outcome of the game is at full volume.
Let’s take a little walk down memory lane to uncover how I went from not caring much about sports to a 36-hour, time-of-my-life trip to Game 4 of the NBA Finals to cheer for my favorite team (and watch what very well may have been the game of the series!).
At 24 years old, I moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma to work for Teach For America in August of 2011. The OKC Thunder were born a mere two years earlier, in 2009, which is when my husband moved to Oklahoma (also by way of Teach For America). In just a few short years, the OKC Thunder were successfully doing what all small-market teams do best: building a passionate fanbase. At the time, Thunder players Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and James Harden were fresh-faced and explosive. The energy surrounding the team was undeniable.
I immediately gravitated toward the pulse of the OKC Thunder. It was hard not to—both Oklahoma City and Tulsa (1.5 hours apart from each other) were such fun atmospheres for an emerging professional team, and they were the only professional sports team in the state. The 2011 NBA season was also the lockout season, so it was shorter and more condensed, making it the perfect storm (pun intended!!) for a non-sports fan to jump in and follow along. And jump in with gusto, I did.
Shortly after attending my first Thunder game, I went to a Thunder fundraising event (filling in for our Executive Director at Teach For America Oklahoma) and met my first Thunder players: Serge Ibaka and James Harden. I also danced with Kevin Durant’s mom, Wanda, and James Harden even retweeted my tweet. It was a pretty memorable kickoff as an emerging fan.
As the season progressed, I attended a few other Thunder games. When the Thunder made it to the playoffs that year, I went to Game 5 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals when the Thunder beat the Lakers and closed out the series. When the Thunder made it to the Finals, I gathered with friends at various spots around town that hosted Thunder watch parties. The excitement was real. The Thunder ultimately lost the Finals in Game 5 to the Heat, which I watched in Chicago with my girlfriends while there for a wedding.
And one of my favorite pictures from this season of my life— Kevin Durant and I were both featured on local publications, side by side on the shelves. :)
So here I was, 25 years old, living in a new city, with a semi-new pro basketball team, living it all up. And then I met my husband… dun dun dun…
In the fall of 2012, my now-husband and I started dating. Remember when I said “big Boston sports fan?” When we went to our first Thunder game together—Thunder vs. Celtics—he was wearing Celtics gear. While he came to Oklahoma as a Celtics fan, he too got swept into the Thunder excitement (you really couldn’t not!). As our love story advanced and it became clear that the only sport I cared about was the Thunder, he converted (and is still heckled for it by his bros to this day). And they say romance is dead?!
Since then, the OKC Thunder have been woven into our love story. We moved to OKC the following year and lived in a tiny downtown apartment where we would walk or ride our skateboards down to the arena and buy last-minute tickets or win tickets—yes, WIN! Before every home game, 50 pairs of tickets would be raffled off. We won so many free tickets, including a pair to a playoff game. We’ve attended over 40 games together: multiple Christmas Day games, a New Year’s Eve game, a game with my brothers, several with friends, and many with our kids.
We even fostered a litter of 5 kittens when the Thunder were playing in the 2016 playoffs and named them all after the five starters that year: Kevin, Russell, Serge, Steven, and Andre. To this day, Steven Adams (the cat!) still has the same name. And since this is a safe space: the name Russell was also on our list for our firstborn child.
While living in OKC, we had so many run-ins with the players. We bumped into Russell Westbrook at breakfast once, then once when it was just him and his son and us with our boys at a small ice cream shop (he pulled up next to me in the parking lot at the same time!), chatting as we got our scoops together. His son also played soccer with my eldest when they were teeny tiny (and again, I was starstruck and sounded like a dummy while talking with his wife). We also bumped into Steven Adams at breakfast once— he walked by and said “Hey, buddy,” while giving our eldest a little chin tickle. It was a magical place to be a fan.
When the opportunity to attend an NBA Finals game (a bucket list event for me!) came up a few weeks ago and we could actually pull it off, we took an impulsive plunge to make it happen. As the great Russell Westbrook would say—“Why not?” We were lucky to snag some (relatively) reasonable nosebleed tickets, used airline miles to book a flight to Indianapolis, and stayed with my husband’s brother and his wife.
The day after we bought our tickets and booked our flights, my husband got cold feet and thought we should resell (the ticket prices were already a few hundred dollars higher than what we bought them for, and climbing), but we decided this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Going to a Finals game alone is rare—but going to a Finals game to watch your team? There’s no guarantee that would ever happen again.
His parents came in to watch our kids for the two-day trip, and we set off for the airport at 4:45am on Friday the 13th, the day of the game, hoping our flights would go as scheduled. When we got to our gate in Chicago, there were other Thunder fans there, so we all congregated and shared our stories and pre-game jitters. We landed in Indianapolis at noon without a hitch.
Because we were going to be at the Pacers arena, I realized it was the perfect chance to see the Thunder players during warmups and maybe get some high-fives or autographs. We arrived before the game and gathered outside the arena waiting for doors to open. We gathered where a few other fans were chanting “O-K-C,” and it turned out one of them was the father of Thunder rookie Ajay Mitchell.
As soon as the doors opened, we hustled straight to the area where Thunder players enter and exit the locker room. If you ever get to see your team play at another arena, do this—there are way fewer of your team’s fans crowding in!
It was so much fun connecting with the other fans around us. One man had been a fan since the Sonics days and flew with his teenage daughter from Australia! Another kid was a college sophomore who came up with his dad from Louisville. Hearing how everyone found their fandom was heartwarming. After some of the players came through and signed autographs, we all turned to each other giddily— “OMG, did that just happen?!” It was honestly adorable.
League MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is known for signing tons of autographs. He came over, gave us all fist bumps, then came through and signed all our stuff. It was so freaking cool! And the moment was captured and shared by the NBA, no less (can you spot my husband and me in the video?!).
One thing I didn’t anticipate was how fun it was to high-five other Thunder fans around the arena. It was such a unique experience compared to a home game. We even had a solo Thunder fan sitting diagonally in front of us, and we celebrated with him all through the game—a friend for the night. :) There was even a fan handing out fold-up Thunder clappers as we walked through the arena. It was incredible to see our fans turn up and share that excitement with complete strangers. We also met up with an old friend from OKC who happened to be at the game.
We had so much fun that no matter what happened in the game, we were already riding high. But the game itself? Super stressful. It might turn out to be the game of the Finals (WILD!). And wowowow kazoweee—when the final seconds ticked down and we held our 7-point lead (after trailing most of the game), we were over the moon (though reserved—trying to be respectful towards the Pacers fans).
The Pacers fans, for the most part (😅), were wonderful too. We had so many great conversations about why we were there. It was neat to share the moment with another small-market team. Being at a Finals game with both Thunder and Pacers fans was a true joy—especially when the world feels so heavy otherwise.
Being married to a Boston sports fan, I’ve picked up a lot of superstitions over the years (see here my husband’s “playoff beard” of which he cannot shave until his team is out of the playoffs or wins). I wore my Hamidou Diallo (NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Champ ‘19 okaaay!! …who also no longer plays in the NBA…) jersey for Game 2, when we won. I didn’t want to wear such an obscure jersey to the game, so I tried my Westbrook jersey for Game 3... and we lost. So for Game 4, I had to go back to Diallo (you’re welcome!). I was feeling kinda lame about it, but it ended up being so fun—other Thunder fans approached me to comment on my “deep cut” jersey. Plus, Diallo played college ball at Kentucky with SGA, so there is a faint connection. One thing’s for sure: I have to wear it the rest of the series (I wore it for Game 5—again, you’re welcome! 🤣). And now that it’s autographed by SGA, J-Dub (Jalen Williams), and Kenrich Williams... it’s headed for retirement in a frame when it’s all over.
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about every moment—high-fiving strangers, meeting the players, watching our team tie the series while away... even just walking into the arena for a FINALS GAME took my breath away. And sharing it all alongside my best friend! I can see how people love their sports and care so passionately about a team. I can’t see how I’d ever have room in my heart for another team—but I’m more than okay with that.
In the comments, I’d love to learn: Do you have a team you care about with a passion? Where did that passion start?
One win away!! Eek!! THUNDER UP!!!!
I love a niche piece--and basketball! My younger son was a b-ball player--my life was basketball the last few years. I KNOW A LOT. I'm more into the magic of the NCAA, but the NBA is fun (and they actually play defense here and there in the finals hahahah). Love that you had this incredible experience! I love that the Finals this year are not the big markets. You cannot "buy" a championship this year LeBron!
Love this so much