Oklahoma City Thunder
Formerly the Seattle Supersonics, the franchise controversially
moved to Oklahoma City in 2008. Formed in 1967, the Sonics
won a championship in 1979 led by Gus Williams, Jack Sikma
and Dennis Johnson. The team rose to contention again in the
1990s behind Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp, losing in the 1996
Finals to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.
In the 2010s the franchise had to recover from losing one of the biggest ‘what if’ rosters in NBA history – drafting Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden in successive seasons. That young roster took the Oklahoma franchise to their first Finals appearance, which they lost to the Miami Heat in 2012. Afterwards Harden was traded to Houston, Durant fled to Golden State and Westbrook forced a move which saw him reunited with Harden in Houston.
All three players would win MVPs during their career, but only one came with the Thunder, that was Westbrook’s in the 2016–17 season.
The team is currently looking to build a new chapter in the franchise’s storied history