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60 free Oklahoma City Thunder trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Oklahoma City Thunder trivia quiz covers the franchise from the 2008 move out of Seattle to the 2025 championship: the settlement that left the Sonics' banners behind, the Tornado Alley name, Kevin Durant's scoring titles, Russell Westbrook's triple-double MVP season, the Harden trade, the 2012 Finals, the Paul George and Chris Paul years, Sam Presti's mountain of draft picks, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's MVP run to Game 7 over Indiana. There are easy questions on the arena, the mascot and the biggest names, plenty of history for regular fans, and hard ones about the first game in Billings, the record 73-point loss and the cost of the Ford Center. Uniforms, the gold championship tab controversy and the new arena deal all get a turn. Every answer was checked against primary and encyclopaedic sources before it went in, so when you miss one you can trust the explanation. Play it solo or run it as a round at your next Thunder Up watch party. For the wider league, our NBA trivia page is the natural next stop.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What name did the Thunder's home arena adopt when its naming rights were sold in 2021?
Paycom Center
It opened in 2002 as the Ford Center and was Chesapeake Energy Arena before Paycom bought the naming rights in 2021.
Q 02The Thunder franchise was originally established in 1967 as which team?
Seattle SuperSonics
The Sonics played 41 seasons in Seattle before the 2008 move.
Q 03In which year did the SuperSonics win their only NBA championship in Seattle?
1979
They beat the Washington Bullets in five games, a year after losing to the same team.
Q 04Which Oklahoma City businessman led the group that bought the SuperSonics in 2006?
Clay Bennett
Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz sold the Sonics and the WNBA's Storm to the group for $350 million.
Q 05Which former CEO sold the SuperSonics to the Oklahoma City group in 2006?
Howard Schultz of Starbucks
Schultz later sued unsuccessfully to block the move; Paul Allen owned the rival Trail Blazers.
Q 06How much did the ownership group pay Seattle to break the final two years of the KeyArena lease?
$45 million
A further $30 million was promised if Seattle did not get a new team by 2013; it never was paid.
Q 07Under the 2008 settlement, what happened to the SuperSonics name, colours and banners?
They stayed in Seattle for a possible future team
The items technically remain the property of the Oklahoma City team until a new Seattle franchise arrives.
Q 08The 'Thunder' name references Tornado Alley and which US Army unit based in Oklahoma City?
The 45th Infantry Division 'Thunderbirds'
The name, logo and colours were unveiled on September 3, 2008.
Q 09Which team played two seasons in Oklahoma City after Hurricane Katrina, before the Thunder arrived?
New Orleans Hornets
They even used the same practice facility, at Southern Nazarene University, that the Thunder later borrowed.
Q 10Which UCLA point guard did the SuperSonics take fourth overall in their final draft in 2008?
Russell Westbrook
He became the franchise's cornerstone and the 2017 MVP.
Q 11Which player did the SuperSonics draft in their final Seattle season, setting up the Thunder for success?
Kevin Durant
He won the 2010 scoring title at 21, the youngest ever to do so.
Q 12Where did the Thunder play their first-ever game, a 2008 preseason loss to Minnesota?
Billings, Montana
Only one of their preseason games that autumn was actually played in Oklahoma City.
Q 13Which coach did the Thunder fire in November 2008 after a 1–12 start, promoting Scott Brooks?
P. J. Carlesimo
The team started 3–29 but went 20–30 the rest of the way, and Brooks kept the job.
Q 21Which team eliminated the Thunder in the 2016 conference finals after OKC led the series 3–1?
Golden State Warriors
Six weeks later Kevin Durant signed with that same team.
Q 22On which date in 2016 did the Thunder's superstar forward announce he was leaving for Golden State?
July 4
The move to a 73-win team drew comparisons to LeBron James's 2010 'Decision'.
Q 23How many triple-doubles did the Thunder's MVP record in 2016–17, breaking Oscar Robertson's record?
42
He also averaged a triple-double for the season and won MVP.
Q 14Whom did the Thunder draft third overall in 2009 to complete their young Big Three?
James Harden
He was traded to Houston in October 2012 after refusing a four-year, $52 million extension.
Q 15The Thunder's young forward became the NBA's youngest scoring champion in 2009–10 by averaging how many points?
30.1
He played all 82 games; the Thunder went 50–32 and took the champion Lakers to six games as an eighth seed.
Q 16Which team eliminated the Thunder in the 2011 Western Conference finals on the way to the title?
Dallas Mavericks
OKC blew a 15-point lead in the last five minutes of Game 4 and lost in overtime.
Q 17Which team beat the Thunder in the 2012 NBA Finals?
Miami Heat
OKC won Game 1 at home, then lost four straight; it was the franchise's first Finals since 1996.
Q 18Which guard headlined the package the Thunder got from Houston in the October 2012 James Harden trade?
Kevin Martin
He filled Harden's sixth-man role for a season; Jeremy Lamb and two first-round picks also came to OKC.
Q 19Whose collision with the Thunder's point guard in the 2013 playoffs led to his season-ending knee surgery?
Patrick Beverley
OKC still beat Houston in six but lost to Memphis in the next round.
Q 20The Thunder's 2014 first-round matchup with Memphis set an NBA playoff record for what?
Four straight overtime games
OKC won in seven, then beat the Clippers before losing to San Antonio in the conference finals.
Q 24Which forward did the Thunder acquire from Indiana in July 2017 for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis?
Paul George
He re-signed in 2018, then asked to be traded to the Clippers to join Kawhi Leonard in 2019.
Q 25Which ten-time All-Star did the Thunder get from the Knicks in 2017 for Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott?
Carmelo Anthony
He lasted one season before being sent to Atlanta in a three-way trade.
Q 26Which young guard joined Oklahoma City in the July 2019 trade sending Paul George to the Clippers?
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
The deal also brought a record haul of future first-round picks; SGA became the 2025 MVP.
Q 27Whom did the Thunder receive from Houston when they traded their franchise point guard in July 2019?
Chris Paul
Paul made his 10th All-Star team in OKC before being flipped to Phoenix a year later.
Q 28Roughly how many draft picks over the next seven years had the Thunder stockpiled by summer 2021?
36
Eighteen were first-rounders and eighteen second-rounders.
Q 29By how many points did the Thunder lose to Memphis on December 2, 2021, the NBA's largest defeat?
73
The 152–79 rout came seven months after a 57-point home loss to Indiana.
Q 30Whom did the Thunder select second overall in the 2022 draft?
Chet Holmgren
A Lisfranc foot injury suffered in a pro-am game cost him his entire first season.