The Oklahoma City Council approved a lease agreement with the Thunder on Tuesday that would keep the team in town through at least 2053.

Oklahoma Thunder Isaiah Hartenstein may not headline highlight reels, but he embodies the essence of a modern big man.

A Swiss basketball fan traveled to Oklahoma City to watch his favorite team, the Thunder, and formed a friendship with locals who showed him around the city.

The modern iteration of the city, of course, is not just shaped by its urban renewal, but by the never-healing scar of being subject to the worst domestic terrorist attack in U.S. history — the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995, which killed 168 people.

Ibaka wound up being a solid player for the Thunder. He was the runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year in 2012 after leading the NBA in blocks and helped propel the Thunder to the NBA Finals that season. Ibaka was eventually traded in 2016 to the Orlando Magic.

It's fitting that Oklahoma City is on the verge of a championship for the same reason it won so many games and set so many records this season: Defense.

During its 111-104 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, Oklahoma City became the highest-scoring team in league history, eclipsing a record the Golden State Warriors held for six years.

So transfixed by not only the team, but also the city, Anderson’s magazine story was the precursor to “Boom Town” — Anderson’s book, published in 2018, that intertwines the rise of Oklahoma City with Thunder basketball. “Boom Town” is equal parts historical and hysterical in telling the story of Oklahoma City.