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FRANCHISE

NBA franchise story

Oklahoma City Thunder

The franchise line joins Seattle's 1979 title and Payton–Kemp teams to Oklahoma City's extraordinary Durant–Westbrook rise and a second homegrown contender built around Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Every era · The defining players · Five essential games

The franchise timeline

Every era of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Move through the franchise chronologically. The jerseys identify each chapter’s central cast, and every curated card opens the complete story of that era.

Historical reference: Oklahoma City Thunder official team history ↗
The beginning↓
01▼

Franchise era

1967–68—1978–79

01
OKCWILLIAMS1Gus Williams
OKCJOHNSON3Dennis Johnson
OKCSIKMA43Jack Sikma

Sikma, Williams and the 1979 title

Seattle builds a champion

After an uneven first decade, the SuperSonics reached consecutive Finals and won the 1979 championship.

Read the era story →

Chapter 01

1967–68—1978–79

02▼

Franchise era

1979–80—1989–90

02
OKCSIKMA43Jack Sikma
OKCELLIS3Dale Ellis
OKCCHAMBERS24Tom Chambers

Sikma bridges to a new generation

The post-title Sonics

Seattle remained dangerous and found elite scoring, though it could not reconstruct the title formula.

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Chapter 02

1979–80—1989–90

03▼

Franchise era

1990–91—2007–08

03
OKCPAYTON20Gary Payton
OKCKEMP40Shawn Kemp
OKCALLEN34Ray Allen

Pressure defense, the 1996 Finals and relocation

Payton, Kemp and Seattle's final years

Payton and Kemp led a 64-win finalist before the roster evolved around Allen and the franchise ultimately left Seattle.

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Chapter 03

1990–91—2007–08

04▼

Franchise era

2008–09—2015–16

04
OKCDURANT35Kevin Durant
OKCWESTBROOK0Russell Westbrook
OKCHARDEN13James Harden

Durant and Westbrook grow up at once

The first Thunder superteam

An unprecedented collection of young talent reached the 2012 Finals and four conference finals before injuries and departures narrowed the window.

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Chapter 04

2008–09—2015–16

05▼

Franchise era

2016–17—2018–19

05
OKCWESTBROOK0Russell Westbrook
OKCGEORGE13Paul George
OKCADAMS12Steven Adams

An MVP keeps the arena roaring

Westbrook's triple-double years

Westbrook answered Durant's departure with a historic MVP season, and George later joined another short-lived contender.

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Chapter 05

2016–17—2018–19

06

Franchise era

2019–20—present

06
OKCGILGEOUS-ALEXANDER2Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
OKCWILLIAMS8Jalen Williams
OKCHOLMGREN7Chet Holmgren

Draft capital, development and a new core

The SGA rebuild becomes a champion

Oklahoma City converted its outgoing stars into a massive asset base, developed an elite young roster and returned to the championship stage.

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Chapter 06

2019–20—present

◆Present day

The essential watchlist

Five Oklahoma City Thunder games to start with.

Curated from the franchise’s defining eras, championship stakes and the games that still carry its story.

#01 · Western Conference Finals

Western ConferenceFinals
2016
GAME6
GOLDEN STATEWARRIORS
OKLAHOMA CITYTHUNDER
MAY 28, 2016

Warriors vs Thunder

May 28, 2016

#02 · First Round

First Round
2019
GAME5
PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS
OKLAHOMA CITYTHUNDER
APR 23, 2019

Trail Blazers vs Thunder

Apr 23, 2019

#03 · Regular Season

Regular Season
2015
GOLDEN STATEWARRIORS
OKLAHOMA CITYTHUNDER
FEB 27, 2016

Warriors vs Thunder

Feb 27, 2016

#04 · Regular Season

Regular Season
2011
OKLAHOMA CITYTHUNDER
LOS ANGELESCLIPPERS
JAN 30, 2012

Thunder vs Clippers

Jan 30, 2012

#05 · NBA Finals

NBA Finals
1978
GAME7
B
BULLETS
SEATTLESUPERSONICS
JUN 7, 1978

Bullets vs SuperSonics

Jun 7, 1978

Season history

Past seasons

59 seasons · newest first

Game archive

Oklahoma City Thunder games

5,149 total · loaded 10 at a time