Oklahoma City Thunder
Bye bye Seattle Supersonics, hello Oklahoma City Thunder. For those of you outside the know, a group of buyers (mostly real estate types) bought the NBA basketball team out of Seattle and into Oklahoma City, giving the town its first-ever professional sports franchise. Here's a quick take:
The Good
Location, location, location - Seattle has had the lowest attendance average in the NBA the past three seasons, in large part thanks to the departures of popular stars Gary Payton, Ray Allen, and Rashard Lewis the past few years. Oklahoma City, while not traditionally labeled as one of the greatest American cities, is a burgeoning metropolis with rising property values that had great game attendance when the New Orleans Hornets played there temporarily in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. From a pure business and tickets standpoint, OKC is a good place for a team. Plus, the team's talented centerpiece player, Kevin Durant, played his college ball at the somewhat nearby University of Texas.
Colors and uniforms - Seattle's uniforms, while a nice retro look, were honestly among the ugliest jerseys in the NBA. Dark green and bright yellow pinstripes are a little too retro, with an unpleasant combination of colors without the boldness of other yellow clashers like the Lakers' purple and gold or the Warriors' awesome and legendary "The City" jerseys (http://www.nba.com/media/warriors/mediapose06_city.jpg). I can't find any Thunder jersey pics on the internet (only fan-made mock-ups from the past few weeks), but the color combination is solid - a rich red and blue with black, white, and orange secondary. If the jerseys resemble the logo (http://images.sportsline.com/u/photos/basketball/nba/img10959773.jpg) then it will look decent. Luckily, it probably won't encroach on many other colors, since there isn't enough orange to mess with the Knicks, Warriors, or Bobcats look and not enough red to mess with the Pistons or Cavaliers. I think it will probably end up looking most similar to the Nets' jerseys, but with less white and no stripes. Overall, not bad, and certainly better than what the Sonics wore.
Shorter plane rides - for many teams, Seattle is among the most remote locations for any NBA gamee. Oklahoma City will be a shorter trip for every single team other than Portland, the four teams in California, and maybe the Utah Jazz. And hey, it's supposed to be a nice town, so it probably won't be a bad stop for the players and staffers.
The Bad
They suck - the Sonics were at the bottom of the league the past two seasons, and while some of their younger players show promise (Kevin Durant and Jeff Green in particular), there isn't much to be excited about here, especially since the NBA West has many more strong teams than the East.
Colors and uniforms - while tasteful and decent-looking, the logo of the OKC Thunder is also generic. Red, blue, black, white, and orange are without a doubt the four most common colors in the NBA. While ugly, the Sonics' uniforms were certainly unique - yellow is probably the least-common dominant color on NBA uniforms. So the new uniforms may gain style points, they lose a few character points.
The History - There is a complicated series of lawsuits concerning what team history stays with the city of Seattle and what team history is inherited by Oklahoma City. Retired jerseys, hall of fame players, and the Sonics' single NBA Championship in addition to three NBA West titles are all at stake here (the Sonics had particularly strong runs in the late 1970s and mid 1990s), and honestly it ought to stay in Seattle. This is OKC's first professional sports franchise, but it also has no history behind it. I guess that's to be expected, but it's also a loss.
The name - Oklahoma City Thunder. Really? I'm aware that OKC has more thunderstorms per year than any other city, but really? I honestly don't like those non-plural names. I mean, it isn't a tasteful title or label like United or Crimson, and it isn't one of the traditionally plural American sports team names. But I also dislike the names Miami Heat, LA Galaxy, Washington Freedom, and Connecticut Sun, so I guess this is more personal preference than anything else.
So that's all. I'm interested because it's American basketball, but I'm also indifferent because I don't care about Seattle or Oklahoma. End transmission.
The Good
Location, location, location - Seattle has had the lowest attendance average in the NBA the past three seasons, in large part thanks to the departures of popular stars Gary Payton, Ray Allen, and Rashard Lewis the past few years. Oklahoma City, while not traditionally labeled as one of the greatest American cities, is a burgeoning metropolis with rising property values that had great game attendance when the New Orleans Hornets played there temporarily in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. From a pure business and tickets standpoint, OKC is a good place for a team. Plus, the team's talented centerpiece player, Kevin Durant, played his college ball at the somewhat nearby University of Texas.
Colors and uniforms - Seattle's uniforms, while a nice retro look, were honestly among the ugliest jerseys in the NBA. Dark green and bright yellow pinstripes are a little too retro, with an unpleasant combination of colors without the boldness of other yellow clashers like the Lakers' purple and gold or the Warriors' awesome and legendary "The City" jerseys (http://www.nba.com/media/warriors/mediapose06_city.jpg). I can't find any Thunder jersey pics on the internet (only fan-made mock-ups from the past few weeks), but the color combination is solid - a rich red and blue with black, white, and orange secondary. If the jerseys resemble the logo (http://images.sportsline.com/u/photos/basketball/nba/img10959773.jpg) then it will look decent. Luckily, it probably won't encroach on many other colors, since there isn't enough orange to mess with the Knicks, Warriors, or Bobcats look and not enough red to mess with the Pistons or Cavaliers. I think it will probably end up looking most similar to the Nets' jerseys, but with less white and no stripes. Overall, not bad, and certainly better than what the Sonics wore.
Shorter plane rides - for many teams, Seattle is among the most remote locations for any NBA gamee. Oklahoma City will be a shorter trip for every single team other than Portland, the four teams in California, and maybe the Utah Jazz. And hey, it's supposed to be a nice town, so it probably won't be a bad stop for the players and staffers.
The Bad
They suck - the Sonics were at the bottom of the league the past two seasons, and while some of their younger players show promise (Kevin Durant and Jeff Green in particular), there isn't much to be excited about here, especially since the NBA West has many more strong teams than the East.
Colors and uniforms - while tasteful and decent-looking, the logo of the OKC Thunder is also generic. Red, blue, black, white, and orange are without a doubt the four most common colors in the NBA. While ugly, the Sonics' uniforms were certainly unique - yellow is probably the least-common dominant color on NBA uniforms. So the new uniforms may gain style points, they lose a few character points.
The History - There is a complicated series of lawsuits concerning what team history stays with the city of Seattle and what team history is inherited by Oklahoma City. Retired jerseys, hall of fame players, and the Sonics' single NBA Championship in addition to three NBA West titles are all at stake here (the Sonics had particularly strong runs in the late 1970s and mid 1990s), and honestly it ought to stay in Seattle. This is OKC's first professional sports franchise, but it also has no history behind it. I guess that's to be expected, but it's also a loss.
The name - Oklahoma City Thunder. Really? I'm aware that OKC has more thunderstorms per year than any other city, but really? I honestly don't like those non-plural names. I mean, it isn't a tasteful title or label like United or Crimson, and it isn't one of the traditionally plural American sports team names. But I also dislike the names Miami Heat, LA Galaxy, Washington Freedom, and Connecticut Sun, so I guess this is more personal preference than anything else.
So that's all. I'm interested because it's American basketball, but I'm also indifferent because I don't care about Seattle or Oklahoma. End transmission.