The Oklahoma City Thunder just completed a historic season in a building that will soon become history itself. OKC voters approved a new arena to be opened by 2028, meaning Paycom Center, the only home the Thunder has known, has just three years left.
No doubt, the new arena will include more bells and whistles that modern NBA fans expect. There’s also hope that its design will provide some punch to a downtown that hasn’t always been architecturally ambitious. But when you think of the memories just made in Paycom Center, it’s saddening to think that court and those seats will soon be no more.
Paycom Center has a smaller footprint than most modern NBA arenas, and while that can create cramped conditions around the concessions and restrooms, it has likely boosted the decibel level inside the arena bowl.
Then again, Thunder fans have proven their spirit more than enough to believe the next arena will have a stellar home-court advantage. Progress is a fact of life, but Thunder fans should cherish the next few seasons in the arena that made this all possible.
This article appears in City crowned.