As usual, the OKC Thunder will play 41 games at home next season with plenty of intriguing matchups. With the 2023-24 schedule now released, Thunder fans can prepare to welcome some of their favorite former players back to Paycom Center.
Former OKC Thunder favorites will be back in OKC next season.
In previous seasons, returns for ex-Thunder players have brought out a full range of emotions. For example, the first time Kevin Durant returned to OKC as a member of the Warriors, boos rained down on the former MVP on every touch. After seven months of pent-up anger, Thunder fans made his return one of the most memorable regular season games in team history after Durant decided to leave.
Meanwhile, when beloved superstar Russell Westbrook returned as a Houston Rocket in 2020, fans welcomed him back with open arms to celebrate his time in OKC. The Thunder even showed a tribute video to showcase Westbrook’s impact on and off the floor. The Thunder had never done anything like that before Westbrook and have not done so since.
Thunder role players have often fallen in the middle of that scale. They typically get announced with a “Welcome back to Oklahoma City” and an ovation as fans show appreciation for their contributions.
Russell Westbrook and Paul George
The LA Clippers will make two trips to Paycom Center on Dec. 21 and Feb. 22. Along with them will come OKC’s former star duo of Westbrook and Paul George.
Westbrook is arguably the Thunder’s most outstanding player of all time. In 11 years with the team, Westbrook was a league MVP, eight-time all-star, and led the Thunder to the playoffs nine times.
After Westbrook’s MVP season in 2017, the Thunder traded for George to form a star duo. George’s tenure in OKC lasted only two seasons, but his impact was significant.
In the 2018-19 season, George had the best season of his career. He was named to the first team for both All-NBA and All-Defense.
Both stars were dealt in 2019 after the tandem posted back-to-back first-round exits. The Thunder sent Westbrook to the Rockets for Chris Paul and picks and George to the Clippers in a package that included Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The two have had many different paths since. George is still with the Clippers, while Westbrook joined the Clippers last season after stints with the Rockets, Wizards, and Lakers.
Considering how Westbrook embraced the community in OKC for so many years, he will always be Oklahoma royalty, and the fans treat him as such each time he’s back.
Chris Paul
Chris Paul’s Golden State Warriors will visit OKC on Nov. 3 as part of the group stage of the In-Season Tournament. The former Thunder All-Star will play in his first season with the Warriors after a three-year stop in Phoenix.
It was only a brief stint with the Thunder, but Paul’s impact on the Thunder is still showing today. He mentored Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort in the 2019-20 season.
That season also inspired OKC fans as the team made a surprising playoff run. Paul’s clutch performances and all-NBA campaign helped OKC finish as the fifth seed in the west.
Paul was an Thunder fan favorite and has received loud cheers every time he returns. Unfortunately, the Thunder fans did not get the full experience with that group as the pandemic forced the end of the season and playoffs into the Bubble in Orlando.
Paul’s return is always unique, as he started his NBA career in OKC despite not playing for the Thunder until 2019. The New Orleans Hornets relocated to Oklahoma City for Paul’s first two seasons due to Hurricane Katrina.
Given his image when the Thunder traded for him, Paul both began and reinvented his career in OKC.
In Golden State, Paul is also reuniting with former Suns teammate Dario Saric, who spent the final months of the 2023 season with the Thunder after acquiring him at the trade deadline.
Steven Adams
Steven Adams played the first seven seasons of his career in OKC, spending all but his rookie season as the Thunder’s starting center. Adams may have the claim of all-time favorite role player among Thunder fans.
Adams will return to Paycom Center with the Memphis Grizzlies on Dec. 18 and March 10. He should be ready to go by the start of training camp after missing the final 36 games of the regular season and the Grizzlies’ first-round series.
Adams is known for his hard screens and rebounding especially his offensive rebounding. The Kiwi has led the NBA in offensive rebounds per game in his last two seasons with Memphis.
Adams was a vital part of the Thunder’s success in the 2010s. He helped the Thunder reach the playoffs in six of his seven seasons, including two conference finals appearances. In the 2019-20 season, Adams’s last with the Thunder, he started alongside current Thunder guards Gilgeous-Alexander and Dort in the team’s playoff run.
There is a slight chance that Grizzlies’ all-star guard Ja Morant could also make his season debut on Dec. 18. The Grizzlies are scheduled to play 24 games of Morant’s 25-game suspension before heading to OKC, but a trip to the In-Season Tournament final would count toward his suspension.
So, like many years in OKC, Adams may play alongside his athletic counterpart in the backcourt.
Kevin Durant
Durant has been scrutinized by Thunder fans since 2016 for his decision to leave for the Warriors. That decision and the aftermath have made each of Durant’s visits to Oklahoma City memorable.
Durant is now on his third team since leaving the Thunder. After winning two championships with Golden State and a tumultuous stint in Brooklyn, Durant settled in Phoenix and formed another star-heavy group.
With Devin Booker and Bradley Beal, Durant’s Suns will make their way to OKC on March 29. As emotional as these games have been in years past, the Thunder will get to take their shot at one of the 2024 title favorites.
Oklahoma’s opinion of the superstar has changed throughout the past seven seasons. Compared to his first return in 2017, fans are more willing to recognize and even appreciate Durant’s immense contributions to the Thunder and the Oklahoma City community.
With the OKC Thunder, Durant led the team to four trips to the conference finals and their only NBA Finals appearance. In 2014, Durant won his only MVP while averaging a career-high 32 points per game.
Although his tenure in OKC ended on sour terms, there is no denying his part in putting the city and team on the map.
More Westbrook-era favorites
As the OKC Thunder competed for a championship with Westbrook leading the way, plenty of role players made their way into Thunder fans’ hearts. Among them was maybe the best backup point guard in Thunder’s history.
Dennis Schroder, who may be remembered best for his ability to frustrate opponents, will be back in Oklahoma City on Feb. 4 as a Toronto Raptor. The 2020 Sixth Man of the Year runner-up will be joined by Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic, a Thunder assistant for five seasons between 2014 and 2019.
A former OKC Thunder starter will make his way to Paycom Center on Jan. 11 and 23 with the Portland Trail Blazers. After signing a five-year, $160 million deal in the offseason, Jerami Grant has improved dramatically since his time with the Thunder.
Grant played in 239 games with OKC from 2016-19, averaging 13.6 points in his final season with the team and his only one as a starter.
Although he only played with the OKC Thunder as a rookie in 2016-17, Domantas Sabonis has turned into an all-star for the Sacramento Kings. Sabonis’s Kings will be in town on Feb. 11 and April 9.
One more Westbrook-era player of note will return with the San Antonio Spurs. Maybe best known as Westbrook’s pre-game dance partner, Cameron Payne will be in OKC on Nov. 14 and April 10.
Players from the rebuilding era
There are plenty of other ex-Thunder players around the league that fans will have a chance to welcome back in the 2023-24 season, including some who are on the same team. When the Washington Wizards make their annual trip to OKC on Feb. 23, fans could see Mike Muscala make his return along with Danilo Galinari, Jared Butler, and Eugene Omoruyi.
Muscala became a fan favorite in his years with the franchise. His outside shooting often gave the Thunder a lift, and his large frame helped the team match up better down low.
Some of the once-promising young players from the rebuild years will make their returns too. After spending nearly four seasons with the Thunder, Darius Bazley was traded to the Suns at the deadline last season and signed with the Nets in free agency. Bazley’s Nets will be in OKC for the Thunder’s annual New Year’s Eve game on Dec. 31.
If Isaiah Roby sticks around with the New York Knicks, he will make his way to Paycom Center on Dec. 27. A guard who set up Roby plenty of times with the Thunder, Ty Jerome, will make his trip to OKC as a Cleveland Cavalier on Nov. 8.
While some players on this list were more helpful than others, each holds a special place in the community and will always be part of the Thunder’s story.