{"id":42133,"date":"2025-09-30T08:17:58","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T12:17:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/sin-categoria\/thunder-the-team-that-healed-oklahoma-after-the-tragedy\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T08:17:58","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T12:17:58","slug":"thunder-the-team-that-healed-oklahoma-after-the-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/sin-categoria\/thunder-the-team-that-healed-oklahoma-after-the-tragedy\/","title":{"rendered":"Thunder: The team that healed Oklahoma after the tragedy."},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>The Legacy of Tragedy: How the Thunder Honor the History of Oklahoma City<\/h2>\n\nMore than three decades ago, on a sunny morning, a boy named Kyle Genzer was telling his mother that he loved her before she left for work in downtown Oklahoma City. Minutes later, tragedy would strike the city. The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building became the most devastating act of terrorism in the history of the United States.\n\nGenzer, now 44 years old, remembers that day and the impact it had on his life. His mother, Jamie, lost her life in the bombing along with 167 other people. Since then, Genzer visits the Oklahoma City National Memorial &amp; Museum, where the Field of Empty Chairs is located, a constant reminder of the tragedy.\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a4.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2025%2F0929%2Fr1553092_2465x3000cc.jpg\" alt=\"Kyle Genzer en el Memorial\" title=\"\"><figcaption>Kyle Genzer fue un adolescente cuando perdi\u00f3 a su madre, Jamie, en el atentado. A menudo visita el Campo de Sillas Vac\u00edas del memorial, donde cada una de las 168 sillas representa un asiento vac\u00edo en una mesa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\nIn the context of sports, the city&#8217;s basketball team, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/team\/_\/name\/okc\/oklahoma-city-thunder\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a>, has forged a deep connection with the memorial and the city&#8217;s history.\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>The Thunder wouldn&#8217;t be in Oklahoma City without the response that took place on April 19, 1995, and without the sacrifices and efforts that were made to rebuild this city.<\/p><cite>Sam Presti, General Manager of the Thunder<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\nSam Presti, the team&#8217;s general manager, has established a tradition that requires each player and staff member to visit the memorial. This connection to the city&#8217;s history is a key component of the team&#8217;s culture.\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2025%2F0929%2Fr1553093_3000x2771cc.jpg\" alt=\"Sam Presti\" title=\"\"><figcaption>Sam Presti exige a todos los empleados nuevos, incluidos los jugadores, que visiten el Memorial y Museo Nacional de Oklahoma City. Durante 17 a\u00f1os, ha sido un rito de iniciaci\u00f3n.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\nThe team&#8217;s presence at the museum is constant, and the players often express their connection to the community and their responsibility as ambassadors of the city. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, for example, feels that playing for Oklahoma City gives him a purpose and a connection to the community.\n\nIsaiah Hartenstein, who visited the memorial shortly after joining the team, shared the profound impression the visit made on him, especially when remembering the victims and the city&#8217;s response.\n\nThe team has also demonstrated its commitment to the community through various charitable and support initiatives. The city&#8217;s response to the bombing, known as the &#8220;Oklahoma Standard&#8221;, has become the foundation upon which the team is built.\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a1.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2025%2F0929%2Fr1553094_2051x2492cc.jpg\" alt=\"Kari Watkins\" title=\"\"><figcaption>Kari Watkins, la presidenta del memorial, ha realizado m\u00e1s de 550 recorridos con jugadores y funcionarios de los Thunder. En 2024, para el D\u00eda de los Primeros Auxilios, asistieron los guardias Jalen Williams e Isaiah Joe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\nIn 2019, the team honored the victims&#8217; families with special jerseys and a moving event at the stadium, demonstrating their commitment to remember and honor those who lost their lives. Richard Williams, a survivor of the attack, received a handwritten letter from Sam Presti, reflecting the deep connection between the team and the memorial.\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a4.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2025%2F0929%2Fr1553096_2999x2541cc.jpg\" alt=\"Los Thunder honrando a las v\u00edctimas\" title=\"\"><figcaption>En 2019, al acercarse el 25 aniversario del atentado, los Thunder recibieron a los familiares de las 168 v\u00edctimas y les entregaron camisetas personalizadas. Una inscripci\u00f3n debajo del cuello dec\u00eda: &#8220;Recordamos a aquellos que cambiaron para siempre.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\nOklahoma City has come a long way since the tragedy, and the Thunder have played a fundamental role in its reconstruction and in promoting its values. The team, led by Sam Presti, has adopted the &#8220;Oklahoma Standard&#8221; as a fundamental principle, which is reflected in its commitment to the community.\n\nThe city&#8217;s basketball team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, has forged a deep connection with the city&#8217;s memorial and history.\n\nIn a ceremony held in November, Presti was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, a recognition of his impact on the city. The Thunder, along with the community, have worked to honor the past and build a brighter future.\n\nIn December 2023, initiatives were approved to fund new projects in the city.","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Legacy of Tragedy: How the Thunder Honor the History of Oklahoma City More than three decades ago, on a sunny morning, a boy named Kyle Genzer was telling his mother that he loved her before she left for work in downtown Oklahoma City. Minutes later, tragedy would strike the city. The bombing of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-42133","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sin-categoria"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42133\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}