My eye-opening experience at Celtics home opener as a Thunder fan

With the 2024-25 NBA regular season officially tipping off, the NBA on TNT crew is going on a Roadshow for what could very well be their final season together. The first city they visited was home of the 2024 World Champions, the Boston Celtics. 

Thankfully, I was able to infiltrate my way into the event as an OKC Thunder fan, wearing my Isaiah Roby jersey from the rebuild. I went in expecting to get hateful comments, weird looks, and many other things that would make someone feel unwelcome if they were not a Celtics fan. 

Even though this was the case for a select few fans I talked to, the majority were nice and happened to even like the Thunder. This surprised me quite a bit considering the rough-and-tough stereotype surrounding Boston sports fans. 

Here are my takeaways and experience as a Thunder fan at the Celtics home opener and championship celebration.

Support for the OKC Thunder

Going into the night, I expected to get jeered at by the home crowd, and yes this did happen. However, just about everyone would still come up to talk to me, and would go into detail about how much they like the current squad in Oklahoma City. 

The Boston faithful would go in depth about superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and how he might be the best player in the world. Some of the crowd would support their franchise player Jayson Tatum and say he, in fact, was the best, but at least half of the fans I talked to were in favor of SGA.

Going from a guy who was questioned about whether he could even lead a team to being a legitimate MVP threat is rather unheard of. 

Another common theme from the fanbase was about how deep the Bricktown club is. Even the NBA on TNT crew mentioned it.

When that happened, the Celtics crowd would start telling me all about how Oklahoma City has bench players that would start for other teams -- Cason Wallace, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Alex Caruso were guys many of the fans would specifically mention.

Acknowledgment of the Front Office 

There is no doubt that Sam Presti is one of the best general managers in the world at the moment, and the fans seem to think so as well. Building a contender in a small market is no easy task and, yet, Presti has managed to do just that. 

The rough and rowdy Boston crowd showed their basketball knowledge, going into depth about the front office and coaching staff of the Thunder.

Every supporter of the Celtics seemed to agree that without Sam Presti, OKC might have never been a contender. This stretches back to his time at Emerson College, the same college I happen to go to.

Many of the classes Presti took helped him develop his craft, but, more importantly, becoming the captain of the school's basketball team helped as well. 

The acknowledgment of head coach Mark Daigneault was mentioned. None of the fans would say he is the better coach when compared to, say, Joe Mazzula, but everyone did say he was the second-best the league currently has to offer.

The comparisons between Daigneault and Mazzula can go far, and the Celtic die-hards agreed, as they brought up their mentality, how they handle the press, game plans, and just general presence between the two is very similar. 

Appreciation of the Thunder Fanbase

The Thunder fanbase is the best in the world, and I will gladly die on this proverbial hill. Do the Boston fans agree? To no one's surprise, absolutely not.

However, there may not be much of a difference between the two fanbases. 

Boston fans will go to war for their team, and so will the Thunder faithful. Since C's fans are so used to winning, they hold high expectations, which leads to passion. This passion is seen in the OKC family but for different reasons. 

The Loud City crowd is different. The Thunder are the only professional team in Oklahoma. Yes, there are college football and minor league teams, but those are not the same.

The entirety of the state comes together for this one club, and that is special.

Many other states are split between multiple teams. Not the Thunder! No matter who you are, when out there, you come together for OKC!

Celtics followers recognized this, and showed a sense of gratitude and appreciation to the Bricktown faithful. Everyone I talked to agreed that our fanbase is completely different from any other in the world. 

The experience I had was one I was not expecting to come away with. I expected to be yelled at, get food thrown at me, or even feel pressured to leave.

This was not the case, as the Boston Celtics fan base welcomed me with warm arms, and showed support for the Thunder.

This just goes to show that you can never judge a book by its cover, and, in this case, you should not judge a fanbase because of a few bad apples.