The questions posed not so very long ago now are now shadows barely remembered — in 2005-2006, the question was "What's it gonna be, boy" and Gregg Doyel and Greg Wyshynski debated in the national press whether Oklahoma City would ever get an NBA team. In 2007 the Hornets returned to New Orleans but not without heartfelt sadness and nostalgia by those of us left behind in the post-Katrina wake. But, in July 2006, the Seattle SuperSonics were purchased by a group of Oklahoma City investors, they committing to stay in the Seattle area if a new contract and arena were accomplished by October 31, 2007, but, otherwise, all bets were off. When Seattle and Washington State fumbled and did not deliver, Oklahoma City was given a golden opportunity, but we'd need to move quickly. We'd need to upgrade our arena, which we voted to do. The NBA would need to approve of the relocation, which it did. By October 2008, the former Seattle team played its 1st preseason game when associated with the name, "Oklahoma City Thunder."
But, with our not-altogether-unrequited love affair with the Hornets, would the Thunder ever really be embraced by us as our team? After a dismal 1-12 start, after the November 21 loss to the Hornets, P.J. Carlesimo was fired and Scott Brooks was hired as interim coach and he brought his team to 23-59 by season's end, after which he became the actual head coach. The fans were good with the progress. A playoff team, though, was thought to be 2-3 seasons in the future.
Here we are at the All-Star Break, 2010, and that future is incredibly and realistically reachable on the horizon by the time this regular season ends on April 14. At the 2010 All Star Break, the Thunder's record is 30-21, 5th seed in the Western Conference and the team is on a 6-game winning streak. Kevin Durant will play in the All Star Game this weekend and Russell Westbrook was last week's Western Conference player of the month.
What a difference a season makes, and I don't mean only the team and individual member accomplishments — I mean the city's acceptance of this Thunder team as their own. Like the turnaround of the win-loss record, the embracement of the Thunder and letting-go of the Hornets has not been easy to come by.
But, it has occurred. By the time that the New Orleans Hornets visited (and beat) the Oklahoma City Thunder on January 6, 2010, after giving Chris Paul, David West and others a warm welcome during team introductions, Oklahoma City fans had no reluctance to boo when they felt that Paul was receiving overly generous calls by the officials — Paul later said that he was surprised by that. After all, this city was where both he was introduced into the NBA, and we it.
Love lost?
No, not lost, just put where it belongs, in the past.
I was at that January 6 game and badly wanted for MY team, OUR team, to whip those Cajun guys. We didn't (and I still think we was robbed of a win by the officials), but about a month later, on February 3, we did, whipping the Bees on their home court. If nothing else, that game broke a string of 10 consecutive losses to the Hornets spanning back to Seattle days. As — if not more — gratifying to me and others was the fierceness with which Oklahoma City FANS wanted to win both of those games against our first love — fans who now embrace without reservation the former Seattle team as their own.
It is good that the team members feel at home here as they reportedly do but it is just as good, probably better, that the fans feel the same way. Thunder is good.
Thunder is really, really good
Shown above are Russell Westbrook, my new little brother, and Kevin Durant, King of Oklahoma City.
Approaching Thanksgiving 2007, where are we? The following video with thanks to Jimmy Durante pretty much gives the visual picture ... click the Play button to run the short flash file.
THE HORNETS. Notwithstanding significant historical factors and a fair amount of national press (and discounting "local" sentiment from both Oklahoma City and New Orleans as having too much bias for outsiders to take either of them very seriously), the Hornets returned to New Orleans after a two-season stint in Oklahoma City.
By "historical factors," I'm talking about the objective facts about the prior 3-year history of the Hornets in New Orleans and their 2-year history here. I'm talking about (a) corporate sponsors and (b) fan support, people who buy tickets and put their butts in the seats. Minimal corporate sponsors supported the Hornets in New Orleans but corporate support in Oklahoma City took the nation by surprise. OK, OK, but what about the fans? The 3 year history in New Orleans saw the team ranked at the bottom of NBA attendance ... average attendance in Oklahoma City games alone (excluding non-Oklahoma City "home" games) placed Oklahoma City at 9th and 15th of the 30 NBA teams and 30 of the Oklahoma City games were sellouts in the 19,164 capacity Ford Center. A "snapshot" of attendance history looks like this:
Season
Paid Attendance
NBA Rank
2002-03 in New Orleans
15,632
19th of 29
2003-04 in New Orleans
14,332
29th of 30
2004-05 in New Orleans
14,221
30th of 30
2005-06 in Okc
18,718
9th of 30
2006-07 in Okc
17,954
15th of 30
The New Orleans 3 year average was 14,728 and Oklahoma City's 2 year average was 18,336. Oklahoma City's season ticket sales in the 2nd year were around 12,000.
But, two historical factors were against Oklahoma City: (1) A New Orleans lease which doesn't expire until 2011, and (2) Hurricane Katrina and the sympathy it engendered for the Hornets return, notwithstanding Hornets owner George Shinn's flirtations with Oklahoma City businessmen and in the media about possibly keeping the team here.
So, return they did but not without leaving Oklahoma City with lots of "new" sensations and experiences this city had not earlier known.
But, what's the prognosis in New Orleans? Might the Hornets eventually return, particularly if Seattle and Washington State gets its collective act together in time to keep the Sonics in the Puget Sound area?
Many expected that New Orleans would welcome the Hornets back with celebrating fans flocking to the revamped New Orleans Arena, particularly during the early months of their return, and particularly since the NBA has worked hard at making the return successful. While that success may yet occur, thus far it has not happened. After 3 home games, nothing close to a sellout (which would be around 17,200, using ESPN attendance statistics as the guide ... Times-Picayune reporter John DeShazier puts the number at 17,956). Paid attendance for the 1st home game against Sacramento was 15,188. Some said it was because the game was on a Wednesday. Paid attendance for the 2nd home game against Portland on a Friday was 9,817 ... reports are that actual attendance was more like 4,000. Some said that a conflict with Halloween and a non-sexy opponent combined to produce the lowest paid attendance game in New Orleans Hornets history. Surely the 3rd game would be the charm ... on a Friday against the NBA reigning champs, the San Antonio Spurs. But, the charm was not to be had ... paid attendance was 15,207, more than 2,000 shy of a sellout. The Hornets executive in charge of ticket sales just resigned after garnering less than 7,000 season ticket sales. John DeShazier has been compelled to write two articles imploring fans to support the team. See his November 3 article and his November 9 article. Among other things, DeShazier said,
If New Orleans is, indeed, an NBA city, it's past time we stopped flapping gums about how much we love the game and started buying tickets, time we stopped reflecting on what was or wasn't said and worn on jerseys and patches when the team was in OKC and started acting like this is a team that likely will win 45 games and reach the playoffs. * * * New Orleans and its surrounding parishes hasn't even had time for the new to wear off these Hornets, doesn't have the cop-out of being able to say it has had the past two seasons to witness and enjoy their growth. If New Orleans loves them, it ought to show it.
If not, it's less than sporting to demand that the franchise hold up its part of the deal (honor its lease agreement and produce a competitive, playoff-level team) without being willing to hold up ours (less than 7,000 season tickets sold in the 17,956-seat Arena).
Them's pretty tough words for a New Orleans homer to say ... but will his advice be heeded, or will the more sagacious wisdom of those whose mantra is, "Attendance doesn't matter," win the New Orleans day? Time will tell, and the clock is ticking. ED NOTE: On Tuesday, November 14, the Hornets hosted Philadelphia in New Orleans 4th home game of the season. Results: (1) A win and the Hornets at 7-2 have now tied their best 9 game start; (2) Paid attendance was 8,302 and the Hornets retake last place in league attendance, having now broken their own "low attendance" record twice this season. Their next home game, Monday v. Orlando, may set another such record.
THE SONICS. Quite a different situation presents itself with the Seattle SuperSonics. After a few years of non-successful negotiations with Seattle to produce a financial situation which would make owning the team profitable, Howard Schultz's sale of the 40-year-old Sonics (& Storm) to Oklahoma City businessmen was announced on July 18, 2006. Clay Bennett, the group's chair and usual spokesperson (see this August 23 Seattle Times article for co-owner Aubrey McClendon's $250K gaffe concerning the ownership group's intentions), told Washingtonians on that day that (1) the group wanted to keep the team in the area, (2) a new facility other than the Key Arena would be needed for that to happen, and (3) that such a deal would need to be agreed to by October 31, 2007, about 18 months later. See my post last summer for more about that.
Seattle's circumstances are much different than those in New Orleans. Unlike New Orleans, fan support is not lacking in Seattle. Seattle is a much larger market than Oklahoma City while New Orleans, a small market to begin with, is struggling to overcome the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Seattle has three major league teams, New Orleans two, and, of course, Oklahoma City has none at all.
In Seattle, coming up with a profitable venue for the team is the issue, it being maintained for quite some time that the Key Arena and the contract agreed to by previous owners rendered it impossible for the owners of the Sonics to avoid substantial economic losses on an annual basis.
The 18 months since July 2006 have come and gone and no new arena deal has even come close to happening. Instead, Seattle citizens, led by Chris Van Dyk, passed "Proposition 91" which effectively makes it impossible that Seattle help fund any new arena. See my earlier post about that. That happening, Mr. Bennett's group sought help from the Washington legislature, they putting forth a plan which would cost $500M for a new arena complex in the Renton area ... but, in the end, the Washington legislature refused to even allow Bennett's proposal to be put to a vote of the people, notwithstanding the efforts of Margarita Prentice who championed the effort in the legislature. About Bennett's efforts, an August 14 Oklahoman article quotes her as saying,
"Clay Bennett could have had an agreement, and they would have been here," Prentice said. "And there was a sliver of hope, and I don't know if it's all gone now. But Clay Bennett went to great lengths to try to reach an agreement. And he agreed to a lot of things that he was never even given the chance to present to the legislature. He and I know that's true."
Time passed but nothing of substance occurred until September when Bennett's group filed an arbitration request to assess a buy-out of the Key Arena lease which runs through the 2009-2010 season -- such a thing would need to occur whether the Sonics would move to Renton or to Oklahoma City before the end of the lease term. Seattle rejoined with litigation in state court for a declaratory judgment that the specific performance provisions in the lease were binding and Bennett's group obtained removal of that litigation to federal court. On October 29, the federal judge ruled that the issues presented were not subject to the arbitration provisions in the lease and that all issues, including the city's demand for specific performance and/or whether a buy-out of the lease was legally possible and, if so, how much the cost would be, are pending before the federal court.
The clock kept on ticking. A few weeks before Mr. Bennett's October 31 "deadline" to have a new arena deal in place, he amended what he'd said earlier (about filing to relocate on November 1 were that not to happen) to not conflict with the team's November 1 season-opening game. But, on Friday, November 2, the Sonics owners applied to the NBA to relocate the teams (although that may be different for the Storm) to Oklahoma City at the earliest of 3 possible dates: (a) the expiration of the Seattle lease, (b) the date determined in the pending litigation, or (c) the date that possible negotiations with Seattle might produce.
Now that Sonics chairman Clay Bennett has filed for relocation to Oklahoma City, the NBA can begin the process. Here's how it works:
NBA Commissioner David Stern will soon appoint a relocation committee of no less than five governors within 10 days of receiving Bennett's application.
Stern has 120 days from the date he receives the application to make a recommendation to the appointed board.
The board, which determines the amount of a relocation fee, will then vote on the move no sooner than seven days and no later than 30 days after the recommendation is made. A simple majority vote is needed to allow a franchise to relocate.
In the meantime, David Stern was in town a couple of days ago, November 8, to present Clay Bennett for induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.
While here, and earlier the same day in Phoenix, Mr. Stern was complimentary of the manner in which Bennett's group had pursued new arena options in Washington and had nothing but uncomplimentary words about the leadership in Seattle and Washington. All that being true, both Clay Bennett's remarks and those of the Commissioner leave a crack in the door for Washington to present a proposal for a new arena before the NBA Relocation Committee reaches its decision by sometime in March 2008. Mayor Mick Cornett has expressed cautious optimism but also reminds his constituents that Oklahoma City's hopes for landing the Sonics, or any other NBA team, are far from being accomplished.
During this hiatus, a banal and idiotic war of words persists, easily readable in lots of places (see this November 11 Seattle Times article for more about that) and trash-talkers are having the time of their lives. Clay Bennett is the usual object of the venom, but Oklahoma City gets it share of ridicule including remarks from presumably well educated folk who should know better. This dummy didn't even know that the Hornets were in Oklahoma City for two seasons (not one as he said) before he took his pen and waxed elegantly (he thought) at MSNBC on November 9 about the chances for an NBA team to succeed here:
Besides, if the team leaves for Oklahoma City, as seems inevitable, think of the fun Seattle can have watching the franchise wither and die in that city, as if inevitable. If Seattle can’t support a team, how is Oklahoma City going to do it? And don’t tell me they successfully hosted the Hornets last year – that’s a novelty deal for one year. Wait until the team plays mediocre basketball at New York City ticket prices for a few years and then tell me what a great market it is.
He must be well-informed, right? He has a pen, doesn't he? Putting up with morons is apparently an NBA requirement, so "putting up" we will. We've endured much worse.
The ball remains in Washington's court, even if for not much longer.
Edited Note: On 4/29/2007, I modified the flash file to include control/navigation buttons, and, in this post, added instructions about saving and playing the file on your own computer.
Although the Hornets are now gone from Okc, they are harldly forgotten! Not by Doug Dawg, at least!
So, I thought I would put together a 2-year commerative flash file ... but ... what to call it?
The Replacements?
No, that wouldn't do ... the team members were not "replacements" ... but Oklahoma City WAS! So, why not call it, "The Replacement," as in replacement "CITY"? And, I did that! Click on the image below to open the flash file ... it's a big file so it will take some time to load ...
WARNING! This Video Contains Disco Music!
Instructions about saving/playing the file on your own computer
It is possible to have, on your computer, a stand-alone software program which plays Flash files WITHOUT being connected to the internet, and several such programs are available. Such a program, and the one I've personally found to be good at doing so ... and it is free ... is SWF Opener. I've not found it to contain any "malware" or "tracking" stuff, PLUS it enhances a Flash file's playback by adding sizing and other features. For example, this Flash file is 800 px by 600 px. When opening this Flash file with SWF Opener, you can easily expand the display to "full screen" without a serious loss of image quality. I do recommend it ... it can be downloaded at this website, among other places.
If you don't want to do such a thing and simply want to use The Replacement Flash file on your computer while you are connected to the internet, that's fine, too. Either way, here's what to do:
THE HTML FILE (this is the Flash loading file - only needed if you don't have a stand-alone Flash player on you computer): Right-click on the following link if you want/need the html "loader" file, and in the pop-up menu, select, "Save Target As". Recommendation: save it to your computer's "Desktop". Right-click on this link. This file is not needed if you are playing the Flash file with a stand-alone Flash player software. Otherwise, this file, and the Flash file, need to be in the same directory/folder when you double-click on the html file to run the Flash file.
THE FLASH FILE (this is the Flash file itself): Right-click on the following link, and in the pop-up menu, select, "Save Target As". Recommndation: save it to your computer's "Desktop". Right-click on this link. If you are playing the file with a stand-alone Flash player software program, this file is all you need for that.
Oh, the pain! Oh, the joy! This was the last week of the season for the Hornets in Oklahoma City, and it has been such a ride and a bittersweet but great week it was!
This edited post finds the Hornets eliminated from the playoffs (losing a heartbreaker on Friday to Denver, 105-107, before a joyous, screaming, yet heartbroken, crowd, and then losing to Houston on Saturday, 123-112.
Are we gonna miss these guys (and Honeybees)? Damn straight!
Part of a nice article at MS/NBC.com (which also appears in scores of papers around the country) reads,
The clock runs out on Oklahoma City's NBA run By JEFF LATZKE Associated Press Sports
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Oklahoma City finally got its moment on the big stage of pro sports. In not too long, however, all that will be left will be some NBA memories.
The relocated New Orleans Hornets will play their final regular-season game in Oklahoma City on Friday night against the Denver Nuggets. The city is holding out hope that a late push by the team could put some playoff buzz in Ford Center.
But the offseason will carry the Hornets home after a two-year relocation brought on by Hurricane Katrina, leaving Oklahoma City without a franchise again.
"We're still in uncharted territory,'' Mayor Mick Cornett said.
The Hornets have a farewell planned for the finale, which will be the team's 30th sellout in 71 Oklahoma City games over the past two seasons. NBA commissioner David Stern said he will be there to thank the city.
"I'm sure it's going to be emotional for a lot of our fans,'" Cornett said. "This has always been a temporary arrangement, but that doesn't necessarily make it any easier. This town has fallen in love with this team, and fallen in love with the NBA product in general.'"
But, a lengthier article at The Bulletin perhaps said it the best:
Oklahoma City Is Feeling The Sting By: Dan Murphy, For The Bulletin 04/11/2007
Imagine watching over a friend's pet for two years, nurturing it, making sure it thrives, until your friend is ready to take back the animal. Problem is, you and the creature have become good pals And letting go will not be as easy as originally planned.
Oklahoma City is going through a similar situation with its temporary basketball franchise, the Hornets. The bees had been playing in New Orleans up until Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city in August 2005. Oklahoma City was commissioned by the NBA to provide the team with a place to play, giving the city a chance to support and experience its first professional franchise.
And support them they have.
But now it looks like that support is being thrown out the window as the NBA announced that the Hornets would be returning to New Orleans for good next season.
In a little over a season and a half, the people from this town, known mainly in the sports world for Oklahoma Sooners football and Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball, have been a physical and mental support machine for the Hornets. Numbers are up in two categories since the move.
Before Katrina, the Hornets had the second worst record in the NBA at 18-64. Last year, their first in OK City, they went 38-44 and barely missed the playoffs. This season has been full of streaks and spurts. But going into their March 23 game with the Lakers, the team was only one game out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Attendance has also spiked.
Before Katrina occurred, the Hornets were dead last in attendance among all NBA teams. It jumped to 11th following their first season in Oklahoma City. And this season, as of the beginning of March, their rank hovered around ninth. Also keep in mind that the Ford Center in Oklahoma City has a greater capacity than the New Orleans Arena (19,599 compared to 17,200), and still the Hornets have had eight sellouts this season, and 13 total games where the attendance was 18,000 or higher.
"Oklahoma has been divided as far as the college teams are concerned, but for the Hornets, everyone has become unified inside the arena to give us that home-court advantage," said Chad Huntington, an Oklahoma City resident.
The hearts of many of the Oklahoma City fans sank when NBA commissioner David Stern announced on Jan. 31 that the Hornets would return to New Orleans full-time beginning in the 2007-08 season.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007 v. The Clippers: Hornets win 103-100.
Click on an pic for a larger view
During the game, "Hugo", retiring after 17 years of service, received special attention. Michael Zerrillo has been the "face" of the Hornets all this time. A nice article by Jenni Carlson at the Oklahoman website tells his story.
Credit: The Oklahoman
Oh, My! How Could I Forget The Honeybees!
After a great 3rd quarter, the Clippers tied, forcing Overtime ...
... BUT ... Hornets win, 103-101!
Friday, April 13, 2007: Hornets lose 105-107. This was the Hornets' finale in Oklahoma City (at least, for this season ... even though the Horents return to New Orleans for now, it isn't a fait accompli they will remain there for very long). This was the Fan Appreciation Night for the hordes of Okies who have supported the Hornets for the past two seasons, and what a night it was! NBA Commissioner David Stern was on hand to ooze kudos upon my city, George Shinn did, too, lots of nostaligic videos before and after the game, and fan give-a-ways all the way around. See National OKC Reviews, below, for more about that.
For now, enjoy the game pics. My family and I were lucky enough to get tickets, even though they were in the nosebleed part of the Ford Center ... glad to have 'em! At least, we were behind the Hornets bench. Click on any pic for a larger image (after the 1st).
The Program Cover (slighly stylized by me)
The Last Pregame Workout & Stretch
Mayor Cornett Unveils New Hornets Permanent Banner ... look closely
Zooming In ...
No Bees Closeups From the Cheap Seats, But ...
Lots of Outrageous Okie Fans!
The Guys Worked HARD For A Win
And We Led Most Of The Night
And Battled Down To The Wire, Though We Lost
LOTS Of Free T-Shirts (thousands - everyone got at least 1)
After the loss, the team was dejected. Credit: The Oklahoman
Few left the Ford as post-game videos recounting the Horents 2-year stay in Oklahoma City were shown. I noticed that Tyson Chandler's eyes rarely didn't watch intently. Unfortunately, my camera card was full at that point and I have no images that I took to show ... but there is one that I'll post from an unknown original source ... the poignant image of Honeybee Talor while watching those videos ...
But for not having pretty Talor's good looks, my face, as well as thousands in the arena, would have and did look much the same. She, and we, love these guys and we're gonna miss 'em ... big time!
On a negative note, sad to say, lots of folks, including but not limited to much of the leadership at the New Orleans Hornets FansiteDON'T love these guys and used the above pic as a source for scorn, ridicule, and a perverse-darkside-kind-of-pride, as far as the Hornets were/are concerned, everything from she not being pretty, needing a tan, jumping for joy, whatever. These are the same guys that plead insufferably for "sympathy" and "understanding" because of their own stressful circumstances! Go figure! If you don't believe me, click the immediately preceding link (unless you've been banned from participating there). As you'll see, many there wanted the Hornets to lose this game and were joyful when they did! A few in the linked thread thought differently, but they were shouted down. Hopefully, those twisted and dark-side guys do not represent the "true" nature of Hornets Fans in the City of New Orleans and are merely an internet anomoly and abomination ... the thread is ugly, just plain ugly. Later, in another thread, one of the same leaders there said that it was time to look ahead and put down the negative talk ... but since he was one of the same people who "fanned the fire" in the above-linked thread, and one who I once thought to be more responsible than his brother-leaders there, his credibility with Doug Dawg is incurably impaired. If he happens to read this post, he'll know who I mean. With "friends" like this, who needs any enemies? I am certain that those who do things like are described above are not representative of the good people of New Orleans.
As for the team, as I already said, Tyson Chandler's eyes rarely budged from the videos shown after the game ... his eyes seemed riveted to the videos. Tyson's "breakout" season occurred here in Okc, this year. He, and Chris Paul, and others, were effusive in their praise of Oklahoma City. Perhaps the most poignant comment, though, came from Coach Byron Scott ...
Byron Scott refused to remain on the Ford Center court.
Someday, the Hornets coach will look back on this season and reminisce about the good times. Someday, he'll be able to watch video montages like the one he turned his back on and walked away from after his team's 107-105, heartbreaking loss to the Denver Nuggets.
Friday night just wasn't the time.
"I didn't want to go back there,” Scott said. "I didn't want to start reflecting. First of all, we got three games left. You never know what's going to happen. Second of all, I didn't want you guys to see a grown man out there crying.”
Somehow I doubt that Coach Scott meant crying about the game's loss. He meant the same thing we in Okc mean ... the pain of saying goodbye to something you've come to love, particularly when none (in this area, including the Hornets) want that to happen.
Shinn wandered down a Ford Center tunnel at halftime of this part senior prom, part memorial service, and a grateful Hornets fan grabbed him. She barely could talk.
Shinn made out only, "thank you.”
Then he started bawling himself. "She got me tore up. Wasn't this a wonderful thing?”
Yes! Absolutely wonderful, the whole 2 seasons!
I'll close this with Doug Dawgz strongest recommendation that you take 5 1/2 minutes to view this video that the Oklahoman has put together which honors the night and the 2 year Hornets history here. You may have to register to see it, but, trust me, it's worth seeing, while it's still available there. Click the image below ...
National Review on OKC's Job Well Done. There are too many to list them all (and they are sometimes redundant given wire service usage of the same article over and over), but I'll give a sampling of national press links here. I'm only giving snippets here, but click on the links for the full reports as long as they remain on-line.
NBA Beat: Stern's message is clear: Oklahoma City is OK An arena that was not supposed to get a team and a city that was not supposed to get a chance let go of the Hornets on Friday, but not of the dream.
This could end up as the greatest tryout in NBA history, after all. If it was an unwanted opportunity because of how it came about, it was not wasted, with Oklahoma City earning such positive reviews as the temporary home of an organization driven from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina that it undoubtedly will end up with a permanent team.
It might get the same Hornets, set to play all of 2007-08 in the "Big Easy" but far from definite beyond that as the league concedes the uncertain future of a city that had serious financial concerns even before Katrina. It might get the SuperSonics, whose new owner happens to be an Oklahoma businessman and is running into walls trying to get a new arena in suburban Seattle.
But Oklahoma City almost certainly will get some team at some point.
Stern looking forward to NBA's return to Oklahoma City OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - NBA commissioner David Stern attended the New Orleans Hornets' final regular-season game in their temporary home Friday and complimented Oklahoma City for an "absolutely extraordinary" job as host.
Before the start of the game, Stern took a microphone and thanked the city, state, government leaders and fans.
"Most of all, thank you to the fans of this most major league of cities," Stern said to loud cheers. "I look forward to the day that the NBA will return to Oklahoma City."
Oklahoma City bids NBA farewell But fans prove area is ripe for big-league franchise--and soon "Here in Oklahoma City, the time that we've had has been unbelievable," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "It's been a great ride and I think everyone's enjoyed it. I don't know if the fans are saying `Goodbye' or `See you later.'" * * * On Wednesday, Stern said, "I don't have a team to send and I can't tell you a date, but it's my expectation that the NBA has not played its last game in Oklahoma City."
Nuggets spoil sendoff Denver’s 8th straight win comes in Hornets’ Oklahoma City finale “We knew it was going to be a packed house tonight. They wanted to win, but we wanted to win just as bad,” said [Carmelo] Anthony, who along with Iverson forms the NBA’s highest-scoring tandem.
The night started with a rousing pregame, in which Hornets starters came to the court through the stands and commissioner David Stern proclaimed that he looked forward to the NBA’s return to Oklahoma City. * * * “They had a great atmosphere, the fans are very supportive of them. I know they’re going to miss playing here, and I know the fans are going to miss those guys playing here,” Iverson said. “I think it was a great two years for them, and they did all they could to win tonight.”
Thanks To Oklahoma City NBA commissioner David Stern attended the New Orleans Hornets' final regular-season game in their temporary home last night and complimented Oklahoma City for an "absolutely extraordinary" job as host.
Before the start of the game, Stern took a microphone and thanked the city, state, government leaders and fans.
"Most of all, thank you to the fans of this most major league of cities," Stern said to loud cheers. "I look forward to the day that the NBA will return to Oklahoma City."
There are similar articles in far-away places like Australia and Romania. I guess that if we were to guage our self-esteem by mirrors, OKC would be OK! But, then again, we don't need mirrors to know that we are, and to appreciate what have experienced! We ARE OK!
Postscript: My Daughter's Pics. My daughter is quite a shutterbug and below are 10 pics she took at the last game. As before, click on a pic for a larger image.
Operation Scissortail - Our Latest Book!
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[image: devon book cover]
We are very happy to announce the release of our latest book, "Operation
Scissortail," a narative history of the construction o...
Saturday in the Park..on a 113 degree day
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For those who don't know, there is a reason I've gone very quiet at such a
pivotal moment for Downtown OKC. I accepted a position in Cleveland, Ohio
and I...
No, not lost, just put where it belongs, in the past. 
I was at that January 6 game and badly wanted for MY team, OUR team, to whip those Cajun guys. We didn't (and I still think we was robbed of a win by the officials), but about a month later, on February 3, we did, whipping the Bees on their home court. If nothing else, that game broke a string of 10 consecutive losses to the Hornets spanning back to Seattle days. As — if not more — gratifying to me and others was the fierceness with which Oklahoma City FANS wanted to win both of those games against our first love — fans who now embrace without reservation the former Seattle team as their own.
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