The Power of Community: What OKC Thunder Reminds Us About Belonging and Endurance

There’s been an energetic shift in Oklahoma City this week, have you felt it?

It’s the kind of shift that happens when a community comes together, when we collectively hold our breath, cheer from our guts, and remember how good it feels to celebrate something together.

If you’ve been here since 2012, you know this isn’t just about one game.
It’s about all the waiting.

It’s about the heartbreak of that season, the rebuilding years, the wondering if we’d ever get this close again. It’s about the quiet hope we’ve carried, the "maybe next year" we’ve whispered, the patience we’ve endured.

And that’s the thing about community.
Sometimes we have to wait together.

We have to live through the almosts, the losses, the long stretches where we’re not sure if what we’re building will ever be enough.
We have to keep showing up, even when the outcome feels uncertain.
We have to hold space for one another during the waiting.

But when it finally does happen, when the win arrives, it’s not just about the game. It’s about every piece of the waiting that’s stitched into our memory.

It’s about belonging.
It’s about connection.
It’s about Oklahoma.

No, this doesn’t erase the very real division that continues to exist here and across the world. We can hold that truth, too. Both can be true.

But sometimes, it’s okay to pause and notice what’s right in front of us.
The moments when we come together.
The rare, beautiful moments where it feels like all of us are on the same team.
The joy we can share when it feels like the win belongs to all of us.

Sometimes we have to wait.
Sometimes we have to endure.
But the sweetest wins are the ones we’ve been waiting for together.

Here’s to the community moments that remind us, we still belong to each other.