Best moments of 2021 for the OKC Thunder
By Rylan Stiles
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reminds everyone, the organization will be just fine
Okay, fine, this technically happened in 2020, but it happened on December 26th, the first game of the season, give me a break! We all know that once the calendar hits Christmas Eve, the year is over.
After seeing their first game of the season postponed due to COVID-19 within the Houston Rockets organization, the Thunder traveled to Charlotte to take on the Hornets. The team that “drafted” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander traded him that night to the Clippers.
After a surprising run to the playoffs in 2020, a year that saw the season interrupted by a global pandemic, a bubble in Disney world, and a 0.2-percent shot in the preseason that the Thunder would make it to the postseason, the team was bounced in the first round and had their fun.
Soon, they deconstructed that team and truly began their rebuild following the breakup of the Russell Westbrook era, which represented the first wave of Thunder basketball.
With a mountain of draft picks and a bunch of teenagers, the future was a fun but scary one way back in December of 2020. In the first opportunity on the hardwood, the kids showed they got game.
Oklahoma City has been littered with basketball stars since they moved from Seattle in 2008. At the time, there was a question if the team had a star remaining on their rebuilding roster. On Opening Night, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander emerged as one. Knocking down a buzzer-beating shot to knock off the Hornets while productive 24 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds in the two-point win.
Sure, if this shot does not count, just count the clutch bucket against the Lakers in the Staples Center early this year.