18 years ago today: The Thunder’s first game in Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook’s debut, and a 98-87 loss to Milwaukee

Eighteen years ago today, on October 29, 2008, the Oklahoma City Thunder played the first regular-season game in franchise history. A sellout crowd of 19,136 filled the Ford Center, and the Milwaukee Bucks ruined the party, winning 98-87. Oklahoma City never led.

It was also Russell Westbrook’s first NBA game. The No. 4 pick from UCLA came off the bench and scored 13 points in 22 minutes, including the Thunder’s only 3-pointer of the night. Kevin Durant, the reigning Rookie of the Year, did not score in the first half.

Four months from Seattle to Oklahoma City

The team had been the Seattle SuperSonics for 41 seasons. Clay Bennett’s ownership group, which bought the club in 2006, could not get a new arena deal in Seattle, and the city sued to hold the team to its KeyArena lease. On July 2, 2008, the two sides settled. Bennett’s group agreed to pay Seattle $45 million to end the lease, with another $30 million possible later, and the Sonics name, logo and colors stayed behind in Seattle.

That left general manager Sam Presti and coach P.J. Carlesimo less than four months to move a roster and a front office halfway across the country. The new name, logo and colors were unveiled on September 3 at Leadership Square in downtown Oklahoma City. The Thunder were not the first NBA team to call the city home. The New Orleans Hornets played most of their home games there for two seasons after Hurricane Katrina, starting in 2005.

A block party, then a 20-9 hole

Fans filled the street outside the arena for a block party before the game. Commissioner David Stern walked to midcourt to welcome Oklahoma City to the league, and a banner with the new logo was unfurled. Bennett sat courtside with Gov. Brad Henry and former Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer.

Johan Petro took the first shot in Thunder history, a missed jumper from the left wing. Andrew Bogut scored the first basket of the game 39 seconds in, and Earl Watson answered with a layup for Oklahoma City’s first points 13 seconds later. After that, the Thunder started 2 of 12 from the field and fell behind 20-9. Durant picked up early fouls and went to the bench.

“We had to come out hitting. That was the whole goal tonight was to come out fast,” Michael Redd said after the game. “We knew we were in a hostile environment.”

Redd hit a 3-pointer and then stole the ball from Durant for a fast-break layup during a 10-1 run that made it 39-21. Milwaukee led 50-35 at halftime and 71-47 in the third quarter. Westbrook capped a 20-8 run with his 3 from the right wing to cut the gap to 90-79 with 5:11 left, but Redd answered with a layup to start a seven-point Milwaukee run that ended it.

Nine players from the 2008-09 inaugural Thunder team returned to Oklahoma City for the recent Thunder Legacy Weekend. @royceyoung talked to several of them to learn how the foundation laid during those early days established the Thunder Standard that we see today. pic.twitter.com/vgPceiPBZ2

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 13, 2023

• Final: Milwaukee Bucks 98, Oklahoma City Thunder 87, Wednesday, October 29, 2008, at the Ford Center. Attendance 19,136. Derrick Collins, David Jones and Mark Wunderlich officiated.
• Bucks: Redd, Richard Jefferson and Charlie Villanueva each scored 20, and Villanueva had 12 rebounds. Bogut added 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. It was Scott Skiles’ first win as Milwaukee’s coach.
• Thunder: Westbrook and Chris Wilcox each had 13 points off the bench. Durant scored 12 on 5-of-14 shooting with four turnovers, and Desmond Mason added 11. Oklahoma City shot 43.8 percent, went 1 of 6 from 3-point range and committed 20 turnovers.
• Westbrook’s debut: 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in 21:56. The Thunder were plus-5 with him on the floor.

What they said

“The excitement of opening night, I thought, caused our slow start offensively,” Carlesimo said. “We didn’t play like we were capable of playing, and that is a shame.”

Skiles thought the occasion worked in his team’s favor. “We were just hoping that if they were playing on a lot of emotion early in the game that we’d be able to weather it,” he said. “I think that probably sometimes these kind of events can weigh on the home team a little bit also and we were able to take advantage of it.”

Wilcox said the next day that the nerves had shown. “I think that the guys were nervous,” he said. “The first home game, you can be so hyped sometimes that you waste too much of your energy before the game.” Durant kept it simple: “I think that we can execute a little bit more.”

A first win, then 1-12

The first win came four nights later, on November 2, at home against Minnesota. Durant scored 18 and Westbrook added 14 as the Thunder held on 88-85, despite 24 points and 13 rebounds from Al Jefferson.

Then they lost 10 straight. On November 22, with the team at 1-12, Presti fired Carlesimo and promoted assistant Scott Brooks to interim coach. Oklahoma City went 22-47 the rest of the way and finished 23-59, fifth in the Northwest Division.

The pieces were already there, though. Durant averaged 25.3 points in his second season. Westbrook played all 82 games, averaged 15.3 points, 5.3 assists and 4.9 rebounds, made the All-Rookie first team and finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting. Jeff Green added 16.5 points a night.

What came after

A year later, the Thunder went 50-32 and reached the playoffs. In 2012 they were in the NBA Finals. Westbrook won the MVP award in 2017 and stayed in Oklahoma City for 11 seasons before he was traded to Houston in 2019. The Ford Center has since been renamed, and it is now the Paycom Center.

In June 2025, the team that lost its first game in Oklahoma City by 11 to Milwaukee beat Indiana in Game 7 of the NBA Finals at home. It was Oklahoma City’s first NBA championship, and the franchise’s first since the SuperSonics won the 1979 title in Seattle.