Thunder Going to Community Shows Commitment to More Than Basketball

The Thunder roster is embracing the Oklahoma identity.

Josh Giddey, an Australian native with no ties to an American college, saw a photo of himself flashing the “Horns Down” hand signal circulate social media Saturday while he and a host of Thunder teammates attended the Oklahoma Sooners football game.

Some OKC Thunder representation in Norman tonight: Josh Giddey, Darius Bazley, Aaron Wiggins and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl shown on the big screen during the break
— Eli Lederman (@ByEliLederman) September 10, 2022

The Sooners defeated Kent State, handily, while Giddey and his OKC teammates Darius Bazley, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Aaron Wiggins took in the action in Norman. This isn’t the first time Thunder players have made appearances at state colleges events. They made it to multiple other football games and events last season as well.

While one group of players celebrated the Sooners success on the gridiron, Lindy Waters III was welcomed back to his alma mater 85 miles north in Stillwater.

However the meaning of those players making appearances in the local spotlight around the state goes beyond just attending a football game.

As previously mentioned Giddey did not attend an American college, Robinson-Earl attended Villanova, Bazley didn’t attend a college and Wiggins spent his college days at Maryland.

Despite having no ties to the school they still found themselves dawning Crimson and Crème in the form of jerseys or other clothing.

The guys are simply embracing the state and the people, showing support when they can, especially during the off-season.

The support shows the bond the Thunder hope to build with the state and the fans as Oklahoma’s only major professional sports team.

With the exception of Waters, who was given a standing ovation during Oklahoma State’s game against Arizona State, the Thunder players had no ties to the state or its other teams, but they showed up anyway.

Doing so is important, but in the midst of a rebuild where fans may not be as bought in as to a successful team, spending time with the fans and in public gives the fans positive thoughts to hold onto both during the rebuild and in the off-season.

With training camp around the corner, the Thunder's time to spend time outside of basketball may be limited, but for now they are spending time out in the community.

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