2008–09 Oklahoma City Thunder season

The Oklahoma City Thunder played its inaugural season in the 2008–09 NBA season. It was the team's 1st season in Oklahoma City since the Seattle SuperSonics relocation was approved by league owners prior to settling a lawsuit. The team played at the Ford Center.

2008–09 Oklahoma City Thunder season
Head coachP. J. Carlesimo (games 1–13, fired)
Scott Brooks (interim, games 14–82)
General managerSam Presti
OwnersProfessional Basketball Club LLC
(Clay Bennett, Chairman)
ArenaFord Center
Results
Record2359 (.280)
PlaceDivision: 5th (Northwest)
Conference: 13th (Western)
Playoff finishDid not qualify

Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Local media
TelevisionKSBI
Fox Sports Oklahoma
RadioWWLS-AM/FM

Oklahoma City hosted the New Orleans Hornets for two seasons, due to Hurricane Katrina's devastation along the Gulf Coast in August 2005.

As of 2020, this represents the Thunder's last losing season.

Key dates

  • June 26: The 2008 NBA draft took place in New York City.
  • July 1: The free agency period started.
  • July 2: The Seattle SuperSonics announced their immediate relocation to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
  • September 3 The team announces name and colors.
  • October 8 The Oklahoma City Thunder took the court for the first time in an 88–82[1] preseason loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Billings, Montana.
  • October 29 The Oklahoma City Thunder played their first regular season game ever, hosting the Milwaukee Bucks.
  • November 2 The Oklahoma City Thunder get their first win as an NBA franchise.
  • November 22 P. J. Carlesimo is fired and replaced on an interim basis by Scott Brooks.
  • November 28 The Thunder tie the franchise record for consecutive games lost at 14 with a 103–105 loss to the Timberwolves.
  • November 29 Oklahoma City snaps 14-game losing streak.
  • January 21 Jeff Green shoots Thunder's first buzzer beater to beat the Golden State Warriors 122–121.
  • February 14 Kevin Durant wins All-Star Break H.O.R.S.E competition.
  • April 15 The Thunder won over Los Angeles Clippers 126–85 to end 23-59 in their first season.
  • April 15 Scott Brooks is named full-time coach of Thunder.

Offseason

  • Oklahoma City rookies and other young professionals played in the first game of the Orlando summer league. Oklahoma City lost its summer league opener to the Indiana Pacers rookies by a score of 95-78. Earl Calloway scored 16 points and Andre Emmett had 15 for the Pacers, who scored the game's first eight points and never trailed.[2] Jeff Green took the first shot in Oklahoma City's history and it bounced off the rim 43 seconds after tipoff. The first basket came 2:15 into the first quarter by D.J. White, who was drafted by Detroit, traded to Seattle and played in Oklahoma City.[2]
  • The Oklahoma City franchise released its season-ticket prices on Thursday, August 14. The franchise announced that there will be 3,400 seats available at $10 per game.[3]
    • On average, ticket prices were about 36 per cent higher than they were for the 2007–08 Seattle SuperSonics season. The announcement also stated that the average ticket price would be US$47.51 while Seattle's average ticket price last season was $35.[3] While last year's NBA average ticket price at $48.83, Oklahoma City's rates below the league average.
    • Season tickets went on sale on Monday, September 8. Chairman Clay Bennett announced that the last of the 13,000 season tickets available were sold on Friday, September 12, and the team started a waiting list for season tickets.[4]

Pre-season

  • The Oklahoma City Thunder made their debut in an 88-82 preseason loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on October 8, 2008.

First pre-season game

October 8, 2008
Oklahoma City Thunder 82, Minnesota Timberwolves 88
Scoring by quarter: 13–24, 28–16, 22–20, 19–28
Pts: Damien Wilkins 19
Rebs: Kevin Durant, Johan Petro 7 each
Asts: Earl Watson 4
Pts: Rashad McCants 15
Rebs: Al Jefferson 9
Asts: Mike Miller 5
Rimrock Auto Arena, Billings
Attendance: 3,817
Referees: Leroy Richardson, David Jones, Eric Dalen

Draft picks

The 2008 NBA Draft was the final time that the Seattle SuperSonics made an NBA Draft appearance, as well as the final time that the SuperSonics appeared in official media publications. In early July, the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and was renamed the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder made their first NBA Draft appearance in 2009.[6]

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College/Team
1 4 Russell Westbrook PG  United States UCLA
1 24 Serge Ibaka PF  Republic of the Congo CB L'Hospitalet
2 32 Walter Sharpe SF  United States UAB
2 46 Trent Plaisted [a](from Portland as part of the Sebastian Telfair trade via Boston as part of the Ray Allen trade, traded to Detroit) PF  United States BYU Jr.
2 50 DeVon Hardin PF  United States California
2 56 Sasha Kaun C  Russia Kansas

Roster

Roster listing
Oklahoma City Thunder roster
Players Coaches
Pos.No.NameHeightWeightDOB (YYYY-MM-DD)From
PG 8 Atkins, Chucky 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 160 lb (73 kg) South Florida
PF 4 Collison, Nick 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Kansas
SF 35 Durant, Kevin 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Texas
PF 22 Green, Jeff 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Georgetown
C 51 Hill, Steven 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 248 lb (112 kg) Arkansas
C 12 Krstić, Nenad 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Serbia
PG 14 Livingston, Shaun 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 182 lb (83 kg) Peoria Central (IL)
SG 34 Mason, Desmond 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 224 lb (102 kg) Oklahoma State
PF 9 Rose, Malik 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Drexel
SG 2 Sefolosha, Thabo 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Switzerland
PF 31 Swift, Robert 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Bakersfield HS (CA)
PG 25 Watson, Earl 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) UCLA
SG 5 Weaver, Kyle 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 201 lb (91 kg) Washington State
PG 0 Westbrook, Russell 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 187 lb (85 kg) UCLA
PF 3 White, D. J. 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 251 lb (114 kg) Indiana
PF 54 Wilcox, Chris 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 221 lb (100 kg) Maryland
SF 21 Wilkins, Damien 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Georgia
Head coach

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured

Regular season

The Ford Center, which seats 19,599 for basketball, was built in 2002 and has received public funding for renovation.[7]

Standings

Northwest Division W L PCT GB Home Road Div GP
yDenver Nuggets5428.65933–821–2012–482
xPortland Trail Blazers5428.65934–720–2111–582
xUtah Jazz4834.585633–815–2610–682
Minnesota Timberwolves2458.2933011–3013–283–1382
Oklahoma City Thunder2359.2803115–268–334–1282
# Western Conference
Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Los Angeles Lakers6517.793
2 y-Denver Nuggets5428.65911
3 y-San Antonio Spurs5428.65911
4 x-Portland Trail Blazers5428.65911
5 x-Houston Rockets5329.64612
6 x-Dallas Mavericks5032.61015
7 x-New Orleans Hornets4933.59816
8 x-Utah Jazz4834.58517
9 Phoenix Suns4636.56119
10 Golden State Warriors2953.35436
11 Minnesota Timberwolves2458.29341
12 Memphis Grizzlies2458.29341
13 Oklahoma City Thunder2359.28042
14 Los Angeles Clippers1963.23246
15 Sacramento Kings1765.20748

Game log

2008–09 game log
2008–09 season schedule

Player statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game

Season

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Chucky Atkins* 18016.6.291.250.9171.01.70.40.13.9
Nick Collison 714025.8.568.000.7216.90.90.70.78.2
Kevin Durant 747439.0.476.422.8636.52.81.30.725.3
Jeff Green 787836.8.446.389.7886.72.01.00.416.5
Steven Hill 102.01.000.000.0003.00.00.00.02.0
Nenad Krstić 462924.8.469.000.7975.50.60.51.19.7
Shaun Livingston 8123.8.538.0001.0003.32.00.60.37.8
Desmond Mason* 391927.3.435.000.5414.01.20.40.87.5
Johan Petro* 221215.5.407.000.6674.30.30.70.24.6
Malik Rose* 20015.7.378.000.8003.31.30.50.15.0
Thabo Sefolosha* 232231.1.417.243.8335.22.01.71.18.5
Mouhamed Sene* 504.6.714.000.7781.80.00.20.43.4
Joe Smith* 36319.2.454.500.7044.50.70.30.76.6
Robert Swift 261013.2.521.000.7503.40.30.20.73.3
Earl Watson 681826.1.384.235.7552.75.80.70.26.6
Kyle Weaver 561920.8.459.344.7072.31.80.80.45.3
Russell Westbrook 826532.5.398.271.8154.95.31.30.215.3
D. J. White 7018.6.520.000.7694.60.90.40.78.9
Chris Wilcox* 37619.4.485.000.5985.30.90.50.38.4
Damien Wilkins 411415.5.362.375.8041.70.90.50.25.3

* Statistics with Oklahoma City.

Awards and records

Week/Month

All-Star

Season

Transactions

Trades

August 12, 2008
To Charlotte Bobcats
2nd Round Selection, 2009 NBA draft
To Oklahoma City Thunder
Kyle Weaver[10]
August 13, 2008
To Milwaukee Bucks
Luke Ridnour, Adrian Griffin
To Oklahoma City Thunder
Desmond Mason[11]
August 13, 2008
To Milwaukee Bucks
Damon Jones
To Cleveland Cavaliers
Mo Williams
To Oklahoma City Thunder
Joe Smith
February 19, 2009
To New York Knicks
Chris Wilcox
To Oklahoma City Thunder
Malik Rose[12]
February 19, 2009
To Chicago Bulls
1st Round Selection, 2009 NBA draft
To Oklahoma City Thunder
Thabo Sefolosha

Subtractions

PlayerDate leftNew team
Mouhamed SeneFebruary 19

See also

References

  1. Sites, Phil (October 8, 2008). "T'Wolves Play Spoiler". Billings Gazette. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
  2. CANOE – SLAM! Sports – Basketball – NBA: Former SuperSonics starting over
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 16, 2008. Retrieved August 16, 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Waiting list begun for Oklahoma City season tickets". ESPN. Associated Press. September 13, 2008. Archived from the original on September 15, 2008. Retrieved September 13, 2008.
  5. Oklahoma City NBA team to face hectic pace in preseason
  6. Pian Chan, Sharon (July 2, 2008). "Sonics, city reach settlement". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 3 July 2008. Retrieved July 2, 2008.
  7. "Ford Center / Oklahoma City, Oklahoma". Arena Digest. March 2008. Archived from the original on May 12, 2008. Retrieved May 5, 2008.
  8. Bulls' Rose, Thunder's Westbrook named Rookies of the Month Archived January 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, NBA.com, January 2, 2009.
  9. Nets' Lopez, Thunder's Westbrook named Rookies of the Month Archived March 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, NBA.com, March 2, 2009.
  10. http://scoreboards.canoe.ca/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=canoe&page=nba/news/newstest.aspx?id=4171097 Archived July 15, 2012, at Archive.today
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 26, 2008. Retrieved August 16, 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. Silva, Chris. "Thunder GM Sam Presti talks about team's newest acquisitions". Thunder.NBA.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2009. Retrieved February 21, 2009.
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