Some 10 or 12 years ago, during the height of the Thunder’s original run of greatness, an NBA insider casually mentioned to me not to expect Sam Presti to be long for the job. Said that Presti was a man of many interests and there likely were too many things he wanted to do with his life to be tied down to winning playoff series in the Bestern Conference.
Presti, then as now, was executive vice president and general manager of the Thunder, and the thought of Oklahoma’s NBA franchise losing Presti was as jarring as the thought of losing Kevin Durant.
NBA Finals Championship Parade (copy)
General manager Sam Presti waves to the crowd as the Oklahoma City Thunder celebrate its first NBA title with a parade through downtown Oklahoma City last week. BRYAN TERRY, THE OKLAHOMAN
We know what happened with the latter. But Presti never got around to leaving. He became the acclaimed best general manager in the NBA, and all doubt was removed June 22 when the Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Two days later, the surreal experience of a championship parade through the streets of downtown OKC capped the improbable story.
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I thought of that long-ago tip, which proved to be invalid, as Presti sat at a table Monday and discussed the championship season. A decade ago, Presti clearly had things still to do with the Thunder.
But now? Could the championship cause him to start thinking about life post-Thunder? Presti still is just 48, hired at 29 when the Thunder was the Seattle SuperSonics. Presti was the second-youngest general manager in NBA history. Seems like he could be ripe for a second act even outside basketball.
This is a guy who Monday just reeled off his latest reading list: biographies of Robert F. Kennedy Sr., Ben Franklin and Lyndon Johnson; a book about the purpose and value of art in a person’s life; a book about the famed music group the Jazz Messengers; and a memoir of Tom Farrell, the father of an Emerson College teammate.
Thunder Presti Basketball
Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti reflects on the team’s first championship season at a press conference Monday in Oklahoma City. Cliff Brunt, Associated Press
In other words, Presti indeed has a lot of interests. But Presti said the championship didn’t affect him in terms of his own future.
“It’s just not where my mind goes,” Presti said. “For me, the fact that we accomplished something as a group of people, to me that is an incredible accomplishment, but I’ve never looked at that as a signal of any kind.
“It’s easy to say that now, but those of you that have been around me for 17 years, I think you probably know, I’m always focused on the quality of the work. I have a lot of respect for the role of luck and chance and how that plays such a huge factor in all of our lives, professionally and personally. We were fortunate in a lot of ways this year. So I wouldn’t look at it as like this is some threshold personally.”
The Tuesday ScissorTales check in on Big 12 Football Media Days, wonder if the Chiefs could be moving to Kansas and list the smallest markets to call themselves Titletown. But we start with Sam Presti, architect of the Thunder’s NBA championship.
Presti is talking a little sideways. The Thunder also was unfortunate in a lot of ways, with injuries. One of its young cornerstones missed 58 games with a fractured hip, after having played just one NBA season. That alone would derail a lot of squads.
But Presti also is showing no signs that he sees his job as finished.
“I’m not trying to diminish what it means for the city and for the team and for the organization and everybody involved,” he said. “But for me personally, it’s just being in it with everybody and consistently trying to make good decisions.
“I’m not looking at it on a personal level. I like what I do and I’m inspired by what I do. If I was only motivated by just being able to say that this one thing happened, I think I’d be empty right now. But I’m not empty at all.”
NBA Finals Pacers Thunder Basketball
Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams, center, embraces general manager Sam Presti, left, and Thunder ownership group chairman Clay Bennett, right, after their team won the NBA championship on June 22 in Oklahoma City. Nate Billings, Associated Press
The championship did seem to incite some introspection from Presti. He talked about Thunder players and people from his past who came to his mind as he stood on the podium after that Game 7 victory.
“I feel inspired by watching the people that literally I’ve watched them grow up,” Presti said.
“J-Will (Jaylin Williams) or Wiggs (Aaron Wiggins) or Isaiah Joe, Kenrich (Williams). Some of these guys that came through the program, that inspires me. That fills me. If it was just like, ‘well, we have to do this and then everybody will say X,’ I think I’d feel pretty empty right now. And I don’t feel that way. I feel, like, inspired about what these guys have accomplished.”
He also lauded former Thunder players, and while our minds shift to Durant and Russell Westbrook and the star players who we thought would lead the Thunder to the Promised Land, Presti talked of others. He even said he was emotionally moved when Wiggins, during the championship celebration, lauded former Thunder soldier Nick Collison.
“What a sign of maturity and emotional IQ and selflessness,” Presti said. “That really moved me.
“For me personally, going through these last two months with (Thunder employees) Nazr Muhammad, Nick Collison, D.J. White, Eric Maynor, Mike Wilks, guys that played here. You know, sitting in a room after Game 6 in Indiana with Nick Collison, Nazr Muhammad, just that experience, I’ll never forget that. That’s really meaningful to me. But it’s all these different people. I can’t go through all of them, but we had a lot of them feel a part of it, and that is extremely meaningful.”
Presti said he’s good at reaching out to people from his past, not just in times of glory but throughout his days. Teachers, teammates, bosses in San Antonio, who gave him a start in this business. Influencers who made a difference.
So standing on that stage, Presti wasn’t thinking about his next step. He was thinking about all the little steps.
“What if this teacher didn’t put their arm around me or what if this coach didn’t correct me or what if this friend didn’t serve as a mentor or a rock or I didn’t end up in San Antonio,” Presti said. “I have a pretty good understanding of where I fit in all this.
“I was a Division III player; I really shouldn’t be here. Every day I’m kind of, like, ‘how did this happen?’ So I think that’s a big part of me is like this inner life experience. I think everyone is going through that, but I asked everyone in the organization before we got on the parade route, I gathered everybody and I just said, ‘Look, have the time of your life today. This is so rare. But after it’s over, call somebody that had an influence on you that nudged you, pushed you, held you accountable.’
“We all landed in this place at this time. No one knows exactly why, but it wouldn’t be that way if it weren’t for somebody or a lot of people in your life that made that possible.”
For anyone who got to experience that championship parade, on either side of the ropes, Sam Presti is one of the people who made it possible.
Some day Presti no longer will be running the Thunder. That day might not be coming soon.
Familiar OSU faces in Frisco
The state of college football is well-illustrated by the attendees of Big 12 Media Days next week in Frisco, Texas.
Three Oklahoma State Cowboys will attend. That’s the same number of former Cowboys who will be in attendance.
Oklahoma State vs. Arizona State (copy)
Oklahoma State tight end Josh Ford is the Cowboys’ only returning offensive starter in 2025. Mike Simons, Tulsa World Archive
Current Cowboys attending are tight end Josh Ford, defensive tackle Iman Oates and defensive back Cam Smith.
Former Cowboys attending are Colorado cornerback D.J. McKinney, West Virginia wide receiver Jaden Bray and Houston wide receiver Stephon Johnson. All transferred from OSU in the last couple of years.
McKinney had 62 tackles and three interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, last season for Colorado.
Bray had 48 catches and four touchdowns over three OSU seasons, then transferred to WVU last season, when he had just two catches for 88 yards, missing most of the year with a lower leg injury.
Johnson had 17 catches as an OSU freshman in 2022 and has had 56 catches and five touchdowns in the two years he’s been at Houston.
OSU’s trio of Ford, Oates and Smith represent the lack of star power in Stillwater. Five Big 12 teams will send six players to Frisco, four will send five players and five will send four players. Only OSU and West Virginia are sending just three.
Here are the players scheduled to attend:
Arizona: QB Noah Fifita, OL Rhino Tapa’atoutai, DL Tre Smith, DB Treydan Stukes, DB Dalton Johnson, DB Genesis Smith.
Arizona State: QB Sam Leavitt, WR Jordyn Tyson, OL Ben Coleman, DL C.J. Fite, DL Clayton Smith, DB Xavion Alford.
Baylor: QB Sawyer Robertson, WR Josh Cameron, OL Omar Aigbedion, DL Jackie Marshall, LB Keaton Thomas, DB Devyn Bobby.
Brigham Young: RB LJ Martin, WR Chase Roberts, LB Jack Kelly, LB Isaiah Glasker, DL Keanu Tanuvasa.
Central Florida: RB Myles Montgomery, OL Paul Rubelt, DE Nyjalik Kelly, LB Keli Lawson.
Cincinnati: QB Brendan Sorsby, TE Joe Royer, OL Gavin Gerhardt, DL Dontay Corleone.
Colorado: QB Julian Lewis, QB Kaidon Salter, OL Jordan Seaton, DB DJ McKinney, K Alejandro Mata.
Houston: WR Mekhi Mews, WR Stephon Johnson, DL Carlos Allen, DB Latrell McCutchin.
Iowa State: QB Rocco Becht, OL Tyler Miller, DL Domonique Orange, DB Jeremiah Cooper, DB Jontez Williams.
Kansas: QB Jalon Daniels, C Bryce Foster, DE Dean Miller, DT D.J. Withers.
Kansas State: QB Avery Johnson, OL Taylor Poitier, DE Cody Stufflebean, LB Des Purnell, S VJ Payne.
Oklahoma State: TE Josh Ford, DT Iman Oates, DB Cam Smith.
Texas Christian: QB Josh Hoover, WR Eric McAlister, OL Coltin Deery, LB Devean Deal, LB Namdi Obiazor, DB Bud Clark.
Texas Tech: QB Behren Morton, WR Caleb Douglas, DL Romello Height, DL Lee Hunter, LB Jacob Rodriguez, DB Cole Wisniewski.
Utah: QB Devon Dampier, OL Spencer Fano, DB Smith Snowden, LB Lander Barton.
West Virginia: WR Jaden Bray, OL Landen Livingston, DL Edward Vesterinen.
The List: Smallest cities with a title
When the Thunder won the NBA championship, Oklahoma City joined the list of American title towns, despite being the 26th-largest market in the 28-market NBA. Using Macrotrends research firm’s data on market populations, here are the 20 smallest markets to win one of the four major team sports in the U.S., since 1950. Note: Macrotrends uses stringent metrics to determine metro populations, which means the numbers cited will be smaller than what you typically see.
Saints Packers Football
Pregame fireworks explode before a 2024 game between the Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints in Green Bay, Wis. Jeffrey Phelps, Associated Press file
1. Green Bay Packers: 168,000 when the Pack won the 1961 NFL championship.
2. Syracuse Nationals: 299,000 when the forerunner of the 76ers won the 1955 NBA title.
3. Rochester Royals: 419,000 when the original Sacramento Kings won the 1951 NBA title in upstate New York.
4. Calgary Flames: 640,000 when the Flames won the 1989 Stanley Cup.
5. Edmonton Oilers: 726,000 when the Oilers won their first Stanley Cup, in 1984.
6. Carolina Hurricanes: 736,000 in Greater Raleigh when the Hurricanes won the 2006 Stanley Cup.
7. New Orleans Saints: 802,000 in hurricane-zapped NOLA when the 2009 Saints won the Super Bowl.
8. Portland TrailBlazers: 966,000 when the Blazers won the 1977 NBA Finals.
9. Minneapolis Lakers: 990,000 when the Lakers won their first NBA title, 1950.
10. Oklahoma City Thunder: 1.037 million here in 2025 (though most metro metrics list OKC around 1.4 million these days).
11. Kansas City Chiefs: 1.07 million in 1969, when KC produced a Super Bowl-winning team.
12. Cincinnati Reds: 1.216 million when the Big Red Machine won the 1975 World Series.
13. Milwaukee Bucks: 1.24 million when the Bucks won the 1971 NBA title.
14. San Antonio Spurs: 1.3 million when the Spurs won the first of their five NBA championships, in 1999.
15. Baltimore Colts: 1.37 million when the Colts won the 1958 NFL championship.
Mailbag: State-wide Thunder
My story in the Sunday Tulsa World on the Thunder being a state team drew some interesting responses.
John: “Reading your story this morning made me think of a poll that could be taken. But first, who could not be happy for the Thunder and their championship and the attention it has brought to our state? But how deep does the victory really go into every corner of Oklahoma, a state that is a football state? We are not a basketball state. So, the question could be: If you could choose between a national college football championship for Oklahoma or the Thunder championship which would you choose? Or a national football championship and another Thunder championship? It would be interesting.”
Berry: Oh, I think it’s fairly clear that Sooner fans would take an OU football national title. And same for Cowboy fans, who would prefer an OSU football national title. But that’s sort of the point. OSU fans would rather get tuberculous than see OU win another football national title, and OU fans would move out of state if the Cowboys ever won a national title in football. That’s the thing about the Thunder. No division.
Could Chiefs move to Kansas?
Kansas City’s namesake state never has had a major-league franchise. Could that change?
The Kansas City Chiefs seem serious about a new stadium on the Kansas side of the two-state metropolitan area.
The National Football League Chiefs have requested an extension to a deadline, set for the end of June, for a stadium financing package from the state of Kansas.
Bills Chiefs Football
Fans tailgate outside Arrowhead Stadium before a 2022 game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills in Kansas City, Mo. Reed Hoffmann, Associated Press file
The Chiefs, as members of the American Football League, moved to Kansas City from Dallas in 1963 and have played on the Missouri side of KC ever since, first at Municipal Stadium and, for the last 53 seasons, at Arrowhead Stadium.
Arrowhead is the third-oldest stadium in the NFL, behind the oft-renovated Soldier Field (Chicago) and Lambeau Field (Green Bay). Arrowhead, too, has been frequently updated but is nearing the end of its functionality for the big-business NFL.
No site in Kansas has been designated as a potential football stadium, but many have suggested the junction of Interstates 70 and 435, in a Kansas City, Kansas, area which already has Kansas Speedway, a Major League Soccer stadium, a minor-league baseball park, a casino and hotels.
The Chiefs’ projected new home would be a domed stadium.
No more raw, cold Sunday afternoons in KC.
Chiefs president Mark Donovan wrote in a letter to Kansas Senate president Ty Masterson that the Chiefs have made “significant progress” on plans for a new stadium. The Kansas Legislative Coordinating Council is scheduled to meet Monday to consider extending the deadline.
Baseball’s Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium, hard by Arrowhead, also for more than five decades. The franchises share parking lots. But their leases with Jackson County are set to expire in 2031, and both have flirted with new stadium plans elsewhere. Jackson County voters defeated a sales tax extension to help finance an $800 million renovation of Arrowhead and a $2 billion ballpark district for the Royals in downtown KC.
Donovan seemed to be politicking to take the Chiefs to Kansas.
Kansas’ legislature authorized bonds for up to 70% of the costs of new stadiums in their state. Missouri lawmakers countered with bonds covering up to 50% of the costs, plus up to $50 million in tax credits for each franchise.
“Together, we have the opportunity to bring the National Football League to Kansas, anchored by a world-class domed stadium, new team headquarters, a state-of-the-art practice facility and a vibrant mixed-use and entertainment district,” Donovan said.
Arrowhead was built largely by franchise founder Lamar Hunt, the late father of current Chiefs owner Clark Hunt.
berry.tramel@tulsaworld.com
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