Tramel: Ten years ago, Thunder hosted the NBA Finals; when will they return to OKC?

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was 13 years old; he had just completed the seventh grade in Hamilton, Ontario.

Mark Daigneault was 26; he was two years into his four-year stint as “assistant to the head coach” at Florida. Don’t misunderstand. Daigneault was not an assistant coach under Billy Donovan. Daigneault was Dwight Schrute. An assistant to Donovan.

Josh Giddey was 9 and growing up in Yarraville, Australia. I have no idea what he was doing. Probably playing some hoops and doing whatever it is 9-year-old Aussies do.

Lugentz Dort was 13; he had just finished the sixth grade and was playing organized basketball in Park Extension, a Montreal neighborhood.

Chet Holmgren was 10; he had just finished the third grade in Greater Minneapolis and probably was playing hoops and doing whatever 10-year-olds do in Minnesota.

Jabari Smith Jr. was 9; he, too, had just gotten out of third grade, in Fayetteville, Georgia, 25 miles south of Atlanta.

You get the idea. Ten years was long ago and far away.

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Looking back at 2012 NBA Finals between OKC Thunder & Miami Heat

Ten years ago this week, Tuesday night to be precise, the NBA Finals packed up a two-game stand in Oklahoma City and set sail for Miami.

We figured the NBA’s grandest show would be back in a week. But it did not return. Not that summer. Not any summer.

We figured the NBA’s grandest show would become an OKC staple. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were 23; James Harden and Serge Ibaka were 22. Parades were in our future, of that there was no doubt.

Maybe even that summer of 2012. The Thunder and Heat were tied 1-1 when the Finals went all South Beach. Win just one of the three straight games scheduled for Miami, and the Thunder would be back on its homecourt, with a championship on the line.

But LeBron and the Heat won Game 3 91-85, Game 4 104-98 and Game 5 121-106. The Finals were over. Chesapeake Energy Arena stayed dark.

You know the rest. A Westbrook meniscus here, an Ibaka calf there. A Klay Thompson here, a Damian Lillard there. Along the way, Harden and Ibaka were traded, Durant jumped ship and soon enough, they all were gone.

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Will Thunder make NBA Playoffs or Finals anytime soon?

Those were the days, my friend. Yet here we are. Still waiting on the NBA Finals to return.

It’s not a plague upon our house. NBA championships are hard to win. NBA Finals are hard to host. In the decade since 2012, only nine of the NBA’s 30 teams have made the Finals.

In this century, only half of the NBA’s 30 franchises have made the Finals.

Nothing is assured. Steve Nash never made an NBA Finals. Neither did Dominique Wilkins. The Jazz had Karl Malone and John Stockton together for 18 seasons and never won a title. Patrick Ewing made just two NBA Finals in his 15 years with the Knickerbockers. Reggie Miller made just one NBA Finals in his 18 years with the Pacers. Chris Paul has made just one NBA Finals.

All kinds of great players have been frustrated by the treacherous playoff road. Cities, too.

Atlanta, home to the NBA since 1968, never has hosted the Finals. Neither has Charlotte, an NBA city for 32 seasons.

Neither Memphis nor New Orleans, NBA cities for a combined 46 years, have hosted the Finals. Neither has Denver, an NBA city for 45 years.

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The Clippers franchise has been in business for 52 years, in Buffalo, San Diego and now Los Angeles. No Finals in any of those ports. The Kings came to Sacramento in 1985. That’s 37 years. No Finals.

The Timberwolves were born in 1989, but three decades earlier, Minneapolis hosted its most recent Finals, with the Lakers as the hometown team. Washington’s most recent Finals came in 1979.

We’re on the better side of NBA despair. But that doesn’t make any of us any less wistful about those salad days of 2012.

Oklahoma City has gone from star-crossed to star-deprived. Gilgeous-Alexander offers hope. Maybe Giddey and Dort, too. And lottery luck found us four weeks ago; the Thunder has the No. 2 overall pick for the draft next week.

Smith or Holmgren could return the excitement to the 405. But excitement is never enough. It’s a long and winding road back to the long and winding road that might return the Finals to OKC.

Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder hosted NBA Finals 10 years ago; when will they return?