Football is king in Oklahoma. Always has been. Always will be.
But with Oklahoma's recent upset loss to Michigan and Oklahoma State embarking on a rebuild, the Oklahoma City Thunder provide an alternative to rooting for a championship-caliber team. Now that weekends are filled with football watching, NBA training camp is right around the corner.
Let's not lose sight of what Oklahoma has in the NBA world. Since they arrived in 2008, the Thunder have been a perennial title contender. They finally got over the hump with an NBA championship in 2025. And considering Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren are still in town, they'll remain in the title picture for the foreseeable future.
The Thunder are the bar at the NBA level. Been
the case for four years running. We're seeing perhaps the start of the NBA's next dynasty. That's quite the juxtaposition to Oklahoma football. For five years running, they've been painfully mediocre. Brent Venables has a career 33-21 record. The Sooners have been pretty much the middle of the pack since they joined the SEC in 2024.
And while there are signs of brilliance and good foundational building, Oklahoma's inexcusable 17-10 loss to unranked Michigan is the latest harsh reminder that they're still a ways away from being a true powerhouse. The 2026 regular season is still young; the Sooners can still turn things around and make the CFB playoffs. But it's obvious this will likely be another up-and-down year where QB John Mateer remains inconsistent and the defense will have to bail them out.
Might I offer a detour in your sports-watching plans? How about keeping up with the Thunder? And not just when the NBA playoffs are about to start. The regular-season games in October and December mean as much as the ones in March and April. And with a recast of the complementary pieces, there are some intriguing early-season storylines to follow.
Can Holmgren conquer his alien-shaped boogeyman? Can Williams get back on track? Could Gilgeous-Alexander make NBA history as a third consecutive MVP winner? How will OKC's quartet of young players look? And as the games get played out, other narratives will surely form on their own.
Look — I get that college football is basically an ideology in Oklahoma. The school programs have over a century's worth of history and tradition to back that up. All I'm asking is to keep an eye on the Thunder as they go through the first steps of their 2026-27 NBA marathon. Especially if you're hoping to have fun as a sports fan by watching OKC beat up other teams.
Sure, things are better when Oklahoma is a college football contender. Everybody is in a better mood during the holidays. But that hasn't been the case in Norman since Lincoln Riley and Jalen Hurts manned the sidelines in its final days of Big 12 play. I'm not asking you to jump ship. That's preposterous.
But paying a little extra attention to Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder as they try to bring home a second Larry O'Brien trophy in three years is warranted. Especially since these are the golden years of OKC basketball. We're watching NBA history right down the street. Don't take that for granted. About 27 other NBA fanbases would kill to be in that position.
And odds are, things won't be better than they are right now. So enjoy being in the moment and proudly calling yourself a fan of possibly one of the greatest runs the NBA has ever seen.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: OU's upset loss to Michigan is latest reminder to not take OKC Thunder for granted
