From Seattle to Oklahoma
The Oklahoma City Thunder weren’t always known as the Thunder, nor were they always located in Oklahoma. Instead, the team got its start farther north in 1967 as the Seattle SuperSonics. They remained in the Pacific Northwest for 41 seasons, where they notched one national championship (1979). Despite a single championship, the SuperSonics were regular contenders – a fact that didn’t change much when they headed south.
In 2006, the SuperSonics franchise was sold to a group of Oklahoma City investors and relocated to OKC before the 2008 season. While they left their name behind in Seattle, the team’s history and records (including the championship win) came along with them.
The Thunder have had their fair share of playmakers over the years, including the recently departed Kevin Durant (to Golden State) and James Harden (to Houston) as well as current phenom Russell Westbrook.
Today’s Thunder roster features players from around the country as well as around the world. Check out where each piece of the Thunder puzzle comes from.
Mapping the Thunder
College Contributions
Checking out the college conferences that helped build today’s Thunder roster, it’s easy to note that a big chunk comes from the Pac-12. Schools like the University of Southern California (Gibson), the University of Colorado (Roberson), Stanford (Huestis), and UCLA (Westbrook) all represent the Pac-12 in OKC.
The next largest piece of the roster comes from the ACC, including the University of Pittsburgh (Adams), Syracuse (Grant), and Duke (Singler). The Big East contributed two Thunder players (Doug McDermott from Creighton and Semaj Christon from Xavier), and the Big 12 (Collison from KU) and Big Ten (Oladipo from IU) are also represented in pro-basketball in Oklahoma.
Heading On Down to OKC
Whether you’ve been following Westbrook from his college days at UCLA or have followed the Thunder from their origin in Seattle, rest assured there is plenty of awesome Oklahoma City Thunder gear at Fanatics.com.
