Moments before the Oklahoma City Thunder took the court for the first time on Wednesday night, public address announcer Jim Miller uttered the words many Oklahoma sports fans never thought they'd hear.
"How does it feel to have your own team, Oklahoma City?"
Miller asked, with the sellout crowd of about 19,000 at the Ford Center roaring their answer.
Welcome to the big leagues, Oklahoma City -- and this time for good.
Addressing the fans before the Thunder's regular-season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks, Mayor Mick Cornett said, "I sense you know how I feel because you feel it too."
Not even a heart-breaking 98-87 loss to the Bucks could break fans' spirits. Click here for complete game coverage.
Cornett helped engineer the whirlwind deal that brought the New Orleans Hornets -- displaced by Hurricane Katrina -- to Oklahoma City in 2005. After two successful seasons, the Hornets returned to New Orleans, but NBA Commissioner David Stern said the league never forgot what Oklahoma City did.
"You were here for us when the Hornets needed help and the NBA needed help and we are so delighted that you have been rewarded with an NBA franchise,"
he told fans.
Desmond Mason went through opening night for when the Hornets made their Oklahoma City debut and joined the Thunder during an off-season trade. He expected the crowds at the Ford Center to be even more frenzied because they know the Thunder won't be moving.
"It's hard to try to put in words what's going to happen tonight,"
Mason said. "The atmosphere out there is going to be unbelievable."
Stern said he was making his fifth visit to Oklahoma City since the Hornets' arrival.
"Yes, I'm excited to be here, and yes, I think this team is going to do well here,"
Stern said.
When the Seattle SuperSonics -- with an Oklahoma City-based ownership team led by Clay Bennett -- declared their intentions to relocate, Stern supported the move. He said that the NBA's history has shown that teams in other markets with only one major-league team -- such as Portland, Salt Lake City and Sacramento -- have been successful.
"You get a sense in a smaller market that the presence of a major-league franchise is a unifying element,"
he said.
Stern, Cornett and Bennett all received standing ovations as they were introduced, and Bennett appeared to be visibly moved, patting his chest. He did not speak to the crowd and, through a spokesman, declined to speak with The Associated Press.
Outside the arena in the hours before the game, the team held a block party, complete with live music, inflatable figures, sport courts and BMX stunt shows. Fans sat in chairs provided by the team, hoping to buy one of the 200 tickets the team held back for game-day sales.
Near the front of that line was 7-year-old Christian Alvarez, who wore a Thunder shirt and held a sign with a simple request.
"Please give us tickets! Today is my Daddy's birthday! We have proof!"
the sign read. "Go OKC Thunder!"
The Thunder sold out its 13,000 season ticket packages in five days and individual tickets for the game also sold quickly, but the franchise pledged to always have tickets available on game night.
Lucinda Lopez, Christian's mother, deemed the chance to attend the Thunder's first-ever regular-season game as a good enough reason to allow Christian to skip school.
"This is history, because this is happening in Oklahoma City,"
she said. "I brought my son out here to realize what we've got now. This is special for Oklahoma."
Banners from each NBA team lined the street outside the arena and a large sign noted that it was "Opening Night"
for the Thunder.
About four hours before the game was scheduled to start, Bennett walked out of the Ford Center, looked around and smiled, then gave the fans waiting in line for tickets a thumbs-up before going back into the arena.
Another fan, Charlie Heatly, couldn't stop smiling while looking at the scene outside the arena. Long retired from his career coaching girls basketball in Lindsay, Heatly thought back decades, to when hosting an annual holiday college tournament was considered one of the biggest things in Oklahoma City.
"This just means a lot to our state,"
said the 74-year-old Heatly, who bought season tickets for the Thunder, just as he had for the Hornets. "I think people will take to this team just as they took to the Hornets."
Dustin Iliff brought a group of six, including four students, from Woodward, a 139-mile one-way drive from Oklahoma City. The 32-year-old restaurant general manager -- wearing a Thunder shirt with reigning Rookie of the Year Kevin Durant's No. 35 -- said he'd done the same thing 51 times when the Hornets were in town and that he probably would make 25 to 30 trips this season to watch the Thunder.
He said coming to watch NBA games is a full-day investment for him, but one that is worthwhile.
"I'm a huge sports fan, but I prefer to watch (Oklahoma) and (Oklahoma State) on TV,"
Iliff said. "That's a good seat, at home. But the NBA? You can't beat it, to be able to come down here and see the athletes that we see ... It just blows me away."
