Shai Gilgeous-Alexander thanks wife, Thunder after winning NBA MVP
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shows a lot of gratitude and uncontrollable tears in his NBA MVP speech from the Thunder practice facility on May 21.
Follow The Oklahoman’s coverage of Thunder vs. Timberwolves in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals in the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
While NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has led the OKC Thunder on the court, a seven-member ownership panel has led the team behind the scenes for decades.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have been owned by the Professional Basketball Club, LLC, since 2006, when the group bought the Seattle SuperSonics for $350 million.
Now, almost 20 years since that multimillion-dollar purchase, the Thunder have taken the city to newer heights and its chairman has pointed out this was the hope from the start.
Who owns the OKC Thunder?
The Professional Basketball Club, LLC owns the Oklahoma City Thunder. The group purchased the Seattle SuperSonics in July 2006, which was a controversial move at the time.
The Thunder’s ownership group is made up of seven Oklahoma businessmen, including Clay Bennett as chairman, George B. Kaiser, G. Jeffery Records, William M. Cameron, Robert E. Howard II, Jay Scaramucci and Everett R. Dobson.
Before attempting to purchase SuperSonics, the group first attempted to purchase the New Orleans Hornets during their brief stay in Oklahoma City following Hurricane Katrina.
The attempt to purchase fell flat ultimately, but then-Hornets owner George Shinn gave a glowing review of how OKC hosted his team.
“I told the league, ‘Look, guys. These guys [PBC] are the real deal. They’re good people. They want to do what’s right, and I’m convinced you’ll be glad to have them as NBA partners,” Shinn said in October 2006.
Ultimately, the review helped, as PBC won the bid in July 2006, officially became the owners and was described as the “prototypical ownership group” by NBA commissioner David Stern, according to Bennett at the time.
Thunder ownership’s involvement with OKC’s new NBA arena
The ownership board committed to contributing $50 million toward a new NBA arena for the OKC Thunder basketball team, The Oklahoman reported in September 2023.
“For 15 years, the Thunder has been honored to help lead the transformation of Oklahoma City and enhance the tremendous pride our citizens have in their community. We now have an opportunity to build on that progress, advance our status as a true big-league city, continue to grow our economy and secure the long-term future of the Thunder,” Bennett previously told The Oklahoman.
The $50 million contribution will cover about 5.5% of the cost to build the arena, which is expected to cost upwards of $900 million. The new arena will sit across the street from the current Paycom Center.
Since announcing the plans, Bennett said the arena is just one of many exciting changes the Thunder is fostering throughout the city.
“Oklahoma City is in the midst of an exhilarating transformation, evolving in ways we’ve never seen before. The prospect of our new arena signals even greater milestones ahead, heralding continued success and achievement for both our city and state,” Bennett said in October.