Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Oklahoma City Thunder won their first NBA championship in 2025, defeating the Indiana Pacers in seven games in the NBA Finals. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named Finals MVP and NBA Most Valuable Player that season.
Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz sold the SuperSonics to an Oklahoma City investor group led by Clay Bennett for $350 million in 2006. After a lawsuit over the remaining KeyArena lease, Seattle settled for $45 million to release the franchise from its lease obligations, and the team relocated in July 2008.
Three players have won the NBA MVP award while with the Thunder: Kevin Durant in 2014, Russell Westbrook in 2017, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in 2025 and 2026.
The Thunder play at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. It opened on the 8th of June 2002 as the Ford Center and was renamed Paycom Center after a 15-year naming rights deal announced on the 27th of July 2021. The arena seats 18,203 for NBA games.
Russell Westbrook set the record for most triple-doubles in a single NBA regular season in 2016-17, recording his 42nd on the 9th of April 2017 against the Denver Nuggets, breaking Oscar Robertson's previous record of 41. He averaged 31.6 points, 10.4 assists, and 10.7 rebounds that season and won the NBA MVP award.
General manager Sam Presti traded Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers in July 2019 for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a record collection of future first-round picks, then traded Westbrook to Houston for Chris Paul and more picks. By the summer of 2021, the Thunder held 36 total draft picks over seven years. Gilgeous-Alexander signed a five-year, $172 million maximum extension on the 6th of August 2021 and became the cornerstone of the next championship team.