Tramel: What a wondrous Thunder season, just like that first Hornets year

Mark Mitchell has been an NBA season-ticket holder since the Hornets came to Oklahoma City almost 18 years ago.

His daughter Halle has become a big fan, too. Checking the NBA app, mapping out the playoff possibilities. Halle is 18 now, so she doesn’t remember the early Thunder years, much less those Chris Paul Hornet teams.

About a month ago, Mark Mitchell told his daughter that this Thunder season reminds him very much of that first Hornet season.

“For me, it’s very similar,” Mitchell said. “It’s been a lot of fun. They really relate to my family.”

Low expectations. Young players. Interesting and relevant games, all the way to season’s end.

I’ve been thinking the same thing.

But there’s one difference. That Hornet home schedule ended in April 2006 with a meaningful game. This Thunder schedule ends Sunday with a meaningless game.

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OKC has made the NBA play-in tournament, a dubious achievement compared to the Kevin Durant glory days but quite a feat for a franchise that has been on a season-and-a-half tank and a team that is the youngest in the league.

“Good introduction to the NBA for us,” Mitchell said. “It is kind of uncanny (the similarities). Super young and willing to go after it.”

A quick refresher course. The Hornets temporarily relocated to OKC a few weeks after Hurricane Katrina swamped New Orleans in 2005.

The Hornets were 18-64 the season before and were expected to be no better, even before the hurricane. The preseason over/under number for projected Hornet victories was 21½.

But rookie Chris Paul led the Hornets to a surprising level of competitiveness. The Hornets went into their home finale with a 38-40 record, 10th-best in the Western Conference, only a game behind ninth-place Utah and 2½ games behind eighth-place Sacramento. Eight teams advanced to the playoffs.

But on that Friday night in the arena then called the Ford Center, the Jazz beat the Hornets 105-104. Paul’s driving shot in the final seconds was blocked by Andrei Kirilenko, and CP3’s desperation follow shot bounced off at the buzzer.

The Hornets officially were eliminated in their next game, at Sacramento, and the Hornets finished 38-44. But every Hornet home game was relevant.

Thunder fan Rodd Melton, 49, of Edmond, recited the similarities he sees between those Hornets and this Thunder squad.

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“I could see Chris Paul was going to be a superstar, just like we see SGA (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) turning into a superstar today,” Melton wrote.

“I see/saw a young team with lots of potential that plays hard every night. I see/saw a team that was a couple pieces away from being a contender.

“Both teams were fun to watch and helped to galvanize the fan base.”

Those Hornets proved that an appetite for the NBA existed in Oklahoma City. Perhaps this Thunder team will revive a fan base that had grown stale after being spoiled.

“The only difference is, with the Hornets seasons, we had no expectations whatsoever,” said Jonathan Wilks, 54, of Oklahoma City. “I was just happy to have basketball to see. If that team had won zero games, I would have been thrilled.

“Then the fact that they were kind of good was just a bonus.”

This Thunder team isn’t far removed from those kind of expectations. OKC’s record the previous two seasons were 22-50 and 24-58. Its preseason over/under projection was 23½.

But since the Thunder was 11-18 midway through December, it has gone 28-24.

Gilgeous-Alexander might make first-team all-NBA, Jalen Williams is a Rookie of the Year candidate, Josh Giddey is producing historic numbers for a 20-year-old, Isaiah Joe might be the find of the year as a sharpshooting sixth man and Luguentz Dort remains the best middle linebacker in sports.

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All while 7-foot-1 phenom Chet Holmgren sits out the season with a foot injury.

After the Sunday finale against Memphis in what effectively has become an exhibition game, the Thunder isn’t likely to return home this season. OKC would have to win two road play-in games to reach the Western Conference bracket.

Sunday likely is the final chance to salute this Thunder team.

Mitchell still recalls that Hornet home finale 18 years ago. After the heartbreak of the loss to Utah, a video tribute to the season was played.

The Hornet players didn’t leave the court. They took seats on the bench and watched the video.

“I think the Williamses (Jalen and Jaylin) would do something like that,” Mitchell said. “But no tenured NBA veterans would do that. But there’s still a lot of young players. Very similar.”

That Hornet team actually wasn’t all that young, outside of 20-year-olds Paul and J.R. Smith. David West was 25. Rasual Butler was 26. Speedy Claxton was 27. Desmond Mason was 28. P.J. Brown was 36.

This Thunder team is Romper Room, by comparison.

But the seasons were similar.

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“I remember when I went to the first couple of games, I didn’t really know who Chris Paul was,” said Don Heath, 65, of Edmond. “I thought, ‘oh my god, these guys are so bad.’”

That same feeling permeated early this season, residue from the tanking years.

But SGA and J-Dub and Giddey changed all that.

"It was fun to see they were going to actually try to win games and not shut players down,” Heath said.

The futures of those Hornets and these Thunders were nothing alike. Starting with the Hornets eventually going back to New Orleans, which they did in April 2007. That New Orleans team turned into a playoff contender, making the post-season three times in four seasons (2008, 2009, 2011), with one series advancement. Then Paul engineered a trade to the Clippers, and the Hornets went back to rebuilding.

This Thunder team is rooted in Oklahoma City, and the playoff possibilities seem much brighter, with a broader talent base, more young stars and draft surplus still on the way.

But for one magical season, the Hornets brought not just NBA basketball but playoff relevancy, to Oklahoma City. Now this Thunder team has done the same.

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: 2023 Thunder season mirrors Hornets' first NBA year in Oklahoma City