Sam Anderson’s Boomtown remains undefeated. For the six or so Oklahomans who haven’t read it, Anderson, a New York Times Magazine writer, breathed life into the city biography in 2018 with his dazzling, quirky history of Oklahoma City that paid special attention to its professional basketball team’s early rise to prominence in the NBA and its leaders’ often silly ambitions to become a world-class metropolis.
I revisited Anderson’s book this week after I drove to Oklahoma City for the Thunder’s NBA Championship victory parade, a joyous, orderly affair that you no doubt saw plastered across whatever social media platforms you use. It was as much fun as it looked. Thunder fans from across the state arrived early, dressed in all manner of Thunder gear to luxuriate in the Thunder’s big moment.
Anderson notes in Boomtown that the way the Thunder first came to Oklahoma City—essentially via the theft of the SuperSonics from Seattle—fit the city’s whole schtick. From page 26:
The Thunder, like almost everything else in Oklahoma City, was not native to the region. Its transplant was sudden, violent, scandalous, messy and—for everyone involved—transformative.
That last word “transformative” captures a lot. In the 17 seasons of ball since the Thunder arrived in town, Oklahoma City itself has changed drastically, most notably developing an international profile on the back of its association with the Thunder. A city previously known best for a horrible tragedy rose to become the world champion.
You don’t arrive at such a moment without big ambitions. And more often than not, your big ambitions are going to result in a whiff. Boomtown is full of stories about Oklahoma City’s major, ambitious whiffs, and Oklahoma history is littered with even more. Take for instance Stanley Draper’s plan to build an artificial mountain in the middle of the Great Plains. Or Oral Roberts’ City of Faith towers. Or Operation Bongo II. Or whatever this is, probably.
Seen from here, the Thunder stand out as the rare exception, the Okie dream that came true. And on Tuesday the fans came out to share in the dream, co-mingling their hopes and joy. There was a high school marching band with dancers and baton twirlers, day parties outside of apartments, flatbed trucks and double-decker buses, groups of families, young people, old people. College reunions, high school reunions, family reunions all overlapping on each other. It was beautiful to see people brought together by sports, especially at a time when corporate interests are seeking to commodify, gamify and individualize the sports watching experience.
The flatbeds and the buses passed by my spot, carrying Thunder employees, public officials, business people and other VIPs. And then suddenly there they were, most of the roster was on the ground, gassing up the crowd, cheering, drinking and screaming. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander passed right by where I stood, letting the crowd touch the Larry O’Brien Trophy that he toted over his bare shoulder.
There were seas of people, 500,000 attendees, according to officials. And they roared as the team paraded down the street, united in purpose, cheering for their heroes. I stood along Robert S. Kerr Ave., named for the senator born in a log cabin in Ada. He died in 1962, and probably never imagined a future where Chet Holmgren walked his street chugging victory champagne. For a day, Oklahoma City was the world champion, and nobody was around to tell them otherwise.
Tulsa News
- New Chris Combs (with extremely Blue Note jazz-coded album art) is available today for pre-order from Horton Records
- City of Tulsa and Muscogee Nation came to an agreement where “the city agrees that it will not exercise criminal jurisdiction over Indian defendants on the nation’s reservation.”
- The City Council passed a curfew for people under 18 inside the IDL
- Cat Cox got a great writeup in Eater from local pal and Pickup contributor Meg Shepherd
- Nex Benedict’s estate files lawsuit against Owasso Public Schools
State & Regional News
- Sean Cummings flipped Ryan Walters the bird at a Board of Education meeting
- Ryan Walters issued a memo for Oklahoma teachers, instructing them to talk about the Israel-Iran conflict in ways that emphasize Israel’s “fight to rightly exist in the world”
- The Oklahoma City Thunder picked big man Thomas Sorber from Georgetown in the NBA Draft
- Kevin Stitt and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hosted a joint press conference to launch a “Make Oklahoma Health Again” campaign
- Meanwhile, “There’s not a hospital in the state that wouldn’t be impacted” by planned Medicaid cuts
Jobs & Opportunities
- Emergency Infant Services seeks a Director of Development | Full-time | Salary $85,000-$100,000
- Aramark seeks a Human Resources Manager for Tulsa Public Schools | Full-time | Salary not listed
- Tulsa Housing Authority seeks a Senior Property Manager | Full-time | Salary $50,000-$57,000
- Healthy Minds Policy Initiative seeks a Policy Analyst | Full-time | Salary $60,000-$70,000
- City of Tulsa seeks a Court Reporter | Full-time | Salary $46,000-$78,000
