Jesus Mena arrived at the Ford Center at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday. Wanted to make sure he got two of the 200 tickets that would go on sale almost seven hours later for the Oklahoma City Thunder’s first game. Wanted to make sure he was part of history.
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"Just say I was there,” said Mena, 24, of Oklahoma City. "Twenty years from now, to be able to say I went to the first game.”
No small boast. Less than an hour before tipoff, NBA commissioner David Stern visited the Thunder locker room and had a message for these maiden Boomers.
"You guys are part of something special,” Stern told the Thunder. "Something to tell your kids and grandkids about. Enjoy it.”
Enjoy it everyone did. The Ford Center, dark to the NBA for 18 months since the Hornets returned to New Orleans, made a rousing return. It was a night to remember.
Except for the basketball. The Milwaukee Bucks routed the Thunder 98-87, foretelling what we already knew, that the scoreboard and the Western Conference standings are not going to be kind to Oklahoma City this coming winter.
But no matter. This night, and this season, aren’t so much about scratching out victories. They’re about building for the future and making memories.
Mayor Mick Cornett, the front man for OKC’s major-league hopes while Clay Bennett did all the heavy lifting, said it best during a pre-gameceremony.
Cornett pumped his fist like he was back as a KOCO sports jester.
"I sense you know how I feel, because you feel it, too,” Cornett said.
Right on, Mayor Mick. A sense of joy and pride and excitement filled the night.
Oklahoma City has gone major league, and there is nothing temporary about it.
Thunder coach P.J. Carlesimo has been through a decade and a half of season openers but said this one is different.
"Not being chamber of commerce, but this one is way more special because of the way everybody has made us feel since we’ve been here,” Carlesimo said.
The Thunder tried to repay the royal treatment. General manager Sam Presti, whose job description is to build a roster that can beat the Lakers, headed out of the Ford Center lobby at 4:30 p.m. on a PR mission.
Presti carried an armload of Thunder T-shirts to pass out to the fans in line for those tickets.
Some were turned away for tickets. But up at the front of the building, Mena was safe. He was second in line.
Isaac Stoner, 22, of Oklahoma City arrived at 9:30 a.m.
"When the Thunder wins the championship, I want to say I was there for the first game,” Stoner said.
A championship seems a long way away. But not so long ago, so did the NBA. And Wednesday night, there it was, on this night to remember.
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