Inside The Thunder

OKC Thunder Host Native American Basketball Summit at Paycom Center

While the Thunder are on a four-game road trip, the team's home facilities were in use for a good cause.
Randall Sweet|
Nov 15, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; An overall view of the Oklahoma City Thunder's NBA Cup Court before the game against the Phoenix Suns at Paycom Center
Nov 15, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; An overall view of the Oklahoma City Thunder's NBA Cup Court before the game against the Phoenix Suns at Paycom Center | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

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Oklahoma City Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder's community outreach efforts continued over the weekend as the team hosted a Native American Basketball Summit at the Paycom Center.

More than 80 Native student-athletes from 32 Tribal Nations visited the Thunder's home stadium to participate in the inaugural event.

According to a post from Thunder Cares on social media, the summit featured an on-court basketball clinic and a keynote speech from Lakota Beatty, a former Oral Roberts and Oklahoma State basketball player and a North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame inductee.

The former OSU and ORU standout is an enrolled member of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma.

Beatty's speech touched on important topics, including, "mental health, peer-to-peer empowerment, and the significance of cultural representation."

This event is the most recent example of the Thunder's local outreach efforts, as the team was very active in the community during its five-day break from game action. In addition to hosting the inaugural Native American Basketball Summit, multiple OKC players helped support families with groceries, turkeys and Thanksgiving meals.

The team's continuous efforts to give back locally show the organization's commitment to the community. This commitment is echoed by the team's fans with their support of the Thunder.

Additionally, creating so much goodwill in the community helped Clay Bennett and company earn a new, publicly-funded stadium after the city passed a vote in December 2023.

Despite being so focused on the community during their off days, Mark Daigneault's team was still prepared to step back on the floor after a lengthy break from games. On Monday night, the team was back in action on the basketball court, defeating the Sacramento Kings 130-109.

The contest kicked off a four-game road trip that will finish with the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets. Oklahoma CIty's next home game will come on Tuesday, Dec. 3, against the Utah Jazz.

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Randall Sweet
RANDALL SWEET

Randall Sweet is a 2022 Oklahoma University graduate who has formerly written for the Norman Transcript and OU Daily. Randall also serves as the Communications Coordinator at Visit OKC.

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