Oklahoma City to Name NBA Team..... the Thunder!

[HD MM]

If a television report is accurate, owners of the Oklahoma City NBA team will have listened to the fans.

KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City is reporting the team's name will be the Oklahoma City Thunder. That's the nickname that won The Oklahoman's contest, which was determined by internet fan balloting. The ABC affiliate cited a source close to the ownership group that Thunder will be the nickname for the NBA franchise that moved to Oklahoma City from Seattle earlier this month.

See the rest of the story> HERE.

Personally, I think this name is weak. It reminds me of a WNBA team. "The Thunder" goes along well with the Storm, Sky, and Sparks....

 

[mdonnelly]

...

Personally, I think this name is weak. It reminds me of a WNBA team. "The Thunder" goes along well with the Storm, Sky, and Sparks....

Heat ...

Yeah, I agree. But the best name is already taken: "Sooners"!

 

[SabresRule]

Will they still play in the Northwest Division, or will they move to the Southwest Division?

 

[BillD1984]

Will they still play in the Northwest Division, or will they move to the Southwest Division?

I think Okie City will have to remain in the Northwest Division, at least for now. The Southwest Division has San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, Memphis, and New Orleans. I can't see any of those teams moving to the Northwest, and besides, the NBA currently has 30 teams and six divisions, so all the divisions have five teams.

 

[HD MM]

Is it safe to say that the PA announcers in Oklahoma City will don AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" as their new theme song?!

 

[mccoyrj]

... But the best name is already taken: "Sooners"!

"Boomers" would be more respectable. The Sooners were the ones who cheated and snuck on the land early.

 

[SabresRule]

Over/Under:

57 losses for the Thunder in 08/09?

 

[CharlesO]

Thunder is overall a weak name, none of the others were all that great either.

Outlaws is slightly better, but more an Arena League type name.
Twisters or Barons more for baseball.
Cyclones and Hurricanes too much a rip at rival colleges.

As for the divisions, the move that may make the most sense is to move Portland into the Pacific Division and Phoenix into what is now the Northwest but rename it to something like the Mountain Division.

That would make the division:
Phoenix
Utah
Denver
Oklahoma City
Minnesota

 

[LhasaApso]

Oklahoma Outlaws

I probably would have selected "Oklahoma Outlaws" which was the name of the Tulsa-based United States Football League club that played in 1984.

 

[mdonnelly]

How about "The Oklahoma Thieving B*stards that Stole our Team From Seattle"?

 

[Mariah2014]

I would have prefered Oklahoma City Hicks or Savages. Actually anything showing what non Oklahoman's think of what this owner did would have been appropriate.

How about "The Oklahoma Thieving B*stards that Stole our Team From Seattle"?

 

[CharlesO]

See I think they should have capitalized on that connection such as:

Bandits
Raiders
Steals
Vultures
Possessed

Of course ask some people in Seattle and the name they suggest is an acronym for 3-point shooters, which in this case has a bad(tasteless) connection.

 

[Mariah2014]

I agree and the fact that thunder is not really a good name for a team.

See I think they should have capitalized on that connection such as:

Bandits
Raiders
Steals
Vultures
Possessed

Of course ask some people in Seattle and the name they suggest is an acronym for 3-point shooters, which in this case has a bad(tasteless) connection.

 

[darren_s]

have they announced any TV plans?

 

[Mariah2014]

no. Just speculation that it will either be fox sports southwest or cox sports television covering games in Okolahoma City.

 

[jwgreen68]

If a television report is accurate, owners of the Oklahoma City NBA team will have listened to the fans.

KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City is reporting the team's name will be the Oklahoma City Thunder. That's the nickname that won The Oklahoman's contest, which was determined by internet fan balloting. The ABC affiliate cited a source close to the ownership group that Thunder will be the nickname for the NBA franchise that moved to Oklahoma City from Seattle earlier this month.

See the rest of the story> HERE.

Personally, I think this name is weak. It reminds me of a WNBA team. "The Thunder" goes along well with the Storm, Sky, and Sparks....

Maybe they will wear skirts?

 

[CharlesO]

The NBA actually registered 6 names for possible use for OKC:

NewsOK Mobile
Thunder- The rights to thunder.com ends on Sunday, so if this is the name Monday would be the day.
Barons- so so name
Bison- seems more a MLB, NFL type name
Marshalls- I could actually grow on the name, but didn't a discount chain already TM the name.
Energy- Yuck
Wind- WTF!?

 

[Peter Parker]

It sounds bad right now but we tend to get used to names over time. I rember thinking that the baltimore ravens and Washigton Wizards names were bad choices but now those are just the names.

 

[Peter Parker]

Bison and Marshalls are tie ins to what some of you would call the old West. You know gunslingers, schoolmarms and white settlers and such.

Wind by the way isa fererence to the Native American past of the state. Back in 1834 a large portion of the state was "permanently' reserved for Native Americans and called "The Indian Territory".

A few years before that the whole darned continent was reserved for Native Americans but that is a differnt story. But hey you could at least let us name the baketball team. ther are after all 29 others.

 

[CharlesO]

I get Old West connections, I'm originally from Arizona.
I also get the point that names that sound great now, like the Phoenix Suns, people thought were lame when they first heard them. But I do think we are at the point that sometimes we overthink names to make them "unique".

FWIW, when the x-Browns became the Ravens, I thought that the name was great. One of the few real original names, especially in the animal realm.