Oklahoma City's Thunder decline to celebrate Seattle's 1979 championship with a jersey patch...

[Yahoo! Sports - NBA -]

It was recently revealed that a change is due to the uniforms of the 17 NBA teams that have won an NBA championship in the league’s history. Well, 16 of the 17 teams, but we’ll get to that in a second. The back of the uniforms will project a gold band signifying the franchise’s championship past and number of titles on the collar of each jersey, with the NBA also tossing its own logo to the back in order to make way for advertisements on the front of the jersey because the NBA values money over aesthetics and don’t ever forget that. Meanwhile, the owners of the Oklahoma City Thunder also value money over aesthetics, and James Harden, making that clear as day when they lied to fans of the team when it played out of Seattle, and left to set up shop in Oklahoma City as soon as former commissioner David Stern deemed it NBA-legal. Many of those fans in Seattle celebrated the NBA champion that played in Washington during the 1978-79 season, but the Thunder won’t be celebrating that team’s title run with a gold patch. Just to rub it in a little bit, I suppose. From the Oklahoman, who talked with the NBA’s director of outfitting, one Christopher Arena : “As of right now, they are not wearing it,” Arena said. “They actually would have had to have told us that some time ago, and that was their choice. We have several teams who have a lineage that exists prior to the city that they’re in ...Some teams embrace that past, some teams don’t. Whether it’s because of ownership changes or perhaps the lineage is too great of a distance or the team nickname changed or whatever it may be, that’s their decision.” Cody Stavenhagen went on to note that other teams in new cities – both the Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings – will be honoring their championship past with the gold stamp. The Kings, not unlike the Thunder, also changed colors and the team’s name when they moved, but still decided to embrace its roots. The Oklahoma City Thunder’s owners? Not so much. There is likely a rather vocal subset of Seattle SuperSonics fans that would want nothing to do with the team’s lone Finals win being celebrated on OKC jerseys, but that’s not the point in this instance. The least the Thunder’s owners could do is throw a bone to the community that it lied to prior to failing to make an honest attempt to keep the team in Seattle. The team has apparently decided not to. In the NBA’s latest and crassest attempt to cram more money into its coffers, the Oklahoma City Thunder still managed to come off as the crassest of all. Well done, gentlemen. - - - - - - - Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops

Continue reading...

 

[VF21]

I do not want the Kings to sport a gold patch from something that happened a very long time ago in a different city when the Kings weren't even the Kings. I respect our team's heritage but firmly believe there are much better ways to do it that a dumb piece of gold material of the collar of the jersey.

This is a stupid idea that doesn't mean a thing to the current team, players or fans. If they want the reigning champions to have something to indicate their status, fine. But a gold tab on the back of the jersey on a team that is currently crap doesn't do anything positive IMHO.

 

[NewArena]

The least the Thunder’s owners could do is throw a bone to the community

well when you put it like that, i'm sure sonic fans couldn't care less about this
"missed opportunity". how disgusting.

 

[funkykingston]

The Thunder are kind of damned if you do, damned if you don't in this scenario.

If they accept the patch then people would be upset that a franchise that is largely viewed as having been ripped out of Seattle is rubbing salt in the wound by appropriating a championship won in the city that the NBA spurned.

If they refuse the patch then it is seen as further erasing the legacy of the Seattle Sonics.

As for the Kings, there's not really that level of animosity. And while yes, the franchise changed names, it changed names in Kansas City. So in many ways it's not remotely the same situation with regards to OKC and their team's past.

Still, personally I think the whole notion is dumb. There's a pretty easy way to tell how many championships a team has won. Half their games are played in their home arena and you can count the banners in the rafters.

 

[VF21]

...Still, personally I think the whole notion is dumb. There's a pretty easy way to tell how many championships a team has won. Half their games are played in their home arena and you can count the banners in the rafters.

And bottom line, that's exactly how I feel.

Showing that stupid tab on the back of the jersey proves nothing, honors nothing, means nothing. "Oh, my team has a gold tab and yours doesn't"? If all fans only rooted for teams who had won championships, 13 teams would have no fans.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

I do not want the Kings to sport a gold patch from something that happened a very long time ago in a different city when the Kings weren't even the Kings. I respect our team's heritage but firmly believe there are much better ways to do it that a dumb piece of gold material of the collar of the jersey.

I disagree with this point of view, as I said during all of the relocation mess. Since I'm not from that area (and don't really have any notion of regionalism, anyway), I don't have that thing where I want to no-sell the team's pre-Sacramento history.

With that being said, it's a stupid idea for aesthetic reasons. It's a dumb money grab by the NBA to sell more jerseys; that's why they shouldn't do it.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Showing that stupid tab on the back of the jersey proves nothing, honors nothing, means nothing. "Oh, my team has a gold tab and yours doesn't"? If all fans only rooted for teams who had won championships, 13 teams would have no fans.

And, when you factor in that two of those teams won their only championships prior to expansion, you could make the argument that fifteen teams should have no fans.

 

[VF21]

I disagree with this point of view, as I said during all of the relocation mess. Since I'm not from that area (and don't really have any notion of regionalism, anyway), I don't have that thing where I want to no-sell the team's pre-Sacramento history.

I have no problem with you disagreeing with my pov, but I am not sure what you mean by "no-sell the team's pre-Sacramento history". I thought I was pretty clear in saying I have the utmost respect for our franchise's history. I can actually relate the names and stories of all the players associated with the jerseys hanging in the rafters at STA. Those are symbols that mean something in the history of our team. The stupid gold tag means less than nothing.

Perhaps I should have said that wearing a symbol for something that happened only once over 60 years ago makes us look rather needy and a little pathetic.

Maybe we should go all the way back to the ORIGINAL team name - the Rochester SEAGRAMS. The possibility for tie-in marketing is pretty interesting.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Not talking about you, specifically, but you can't deny that there are people here at Kings Fans who like to act like the franchise didn't exist before 1985. Like we're an expansion team, or something.

 

[VF21]

Fair enough.