The first season of Thunder basketball is a wrap and it would be a mistake to label it as anything other than a success. Sure, the 23-59 record was tough to watch unfolding, but people did. In an economic situation that witnessed something like 75% of the league's franchise hemorrhage money and a half dozen teams require a bailout from the corporate office, the Thunder thrived.
Despite the atrocious record, the Thunder finished the season in the top-10 of attendance with 18,693 fans per game--including 18 (of 41) games sold out. That placed them ahead of nine playoff teams including the defending world champion Celtics. Most importantly, the team finished nine spots ahead of the former Ford Center tenant New Orleans Hornets--another playoff team. Not bad for a city that four years ago was scoffed at as even a temporary home for a major league sports franchise.
Of course, without a playoff bid to go with that support, it is now that time of year where we get to twiddle our thumbs until hearing the results of the lottery drawing. In the meantime, I'm handing out some awards in a retrospective of the first season.
Worst Kept Secret
Team Name
For a basketball organization like the one that resides in Oklahoma City, there were a lot of secrets for them to keep. Fortunately for an organization like TheLostOgle.com, they were awful at keeping secrets. From the beginning, they fumbled at keeping it under lock and key that the team was purchased with the intention of moving out of Seattle. Once it was moved, they failed to hide the new team's name, the new logo, and the look of the new uniform from us until they did their official release. Only when it came time to unveil the new mascot did they learn how to keep control. Of the three leaks, team name was the most blatant and biggest slip.