On Tuesday, June 24, Susan and I attended the parade in downtown Oklahoma City to celebrate the Oklahoma City Thunder winning the 2025 NBA Championship.
Monday, the day before the event, local news reporters had issued multiple warnings in regards to the event. The first warning was about the weather, with a predicted temperature of 90F degrees with the heat index making it feel like 100F. The other warning was about logistics in general — mostly street closures and what it was going to be like to get anywhere from 500,000-700,000 people downtown to access a two-mile parade route. Attendees were instructed to bring water, sunscreen, patience, and “the best version of yourself.”
In an attempt to beat the system, Susan rented a hotel room downtown at the Marriott. Our room wasn’t close enough to see the parade from, but it was only about a two-block walk to the parade route. We checked in Monday night and had breakfast at the hotel Tuesday morning before carrying our chairs down to the parade route. While in the hotel I heard a lot of people asking guests “where are you from?” with most of them responding with other local cities. We were not the only people with this idea.
Susan and I found a spot and set up camp around 8:30 AM, with a scheduled start time for the parade at 10:30 AM. We were able to find shade next to a trolly stop, but by 10AM the shade had shifted and we would spend the next few hours in the direct sun. On our way to the parade route, Susan bought me a championship hat ($45) and I gave her my white baseball cap. Along with our chairs we had four cans of soda, a Buc-ee’s travel cup full of ice water, and a 44oz cup full of ice.
The spot we found was slightly elevated which meant no matter how many people stood in front of us, we were a foot higher than they were. While waiting we were surrounded by multiple groups who, over the next two hours, wandered off to find different areas. The grass is always greener, so to speak. The parade route was full of opportunistic people. One man was pulling a gigantic python around in a wagon, offering people to take pictures with it for $5. Another woman had a wagon full of umbrella hats and bubble wands she was selling for $10 each. Every few minutes someone would walk by with less-than-official Thunder t-shirts for sale.
By 10:30, people were standing shoulder to shoulder. They would remain standing that way for a long time because apparently the parade moved at 5 miles per hour and despite the route only being two miles long, by 11:30AM we still hadn’t seen anything. Although we were located toward the end of the parade route, we figured we would have seen something by then.
One thing we saw was people passing out from the heat. A woman standing about 10′ in front of us who was both drinking Hennessy straight from the bottle and smoking a gigantic joint passed out. As Susan said, there’s no sound quite like a human head bouncing off pavement. Three guys wearing camouflage uniforms arrived in less than a minute and, after being unable to wake her up, picked her up and carried her to one of the many medical stations set up around the parade route. We saw at least two other people being treated for heat exhaustion and one fellow being led away in handcuffs. Oklahoma City was taking no chances with the safety of the parade. Every tall building along the route had officers with binoculars and who knows what else position on rooftops.
It took a while, but shortly before noon the double-decker busses we had been waiting for began to pass by. The first group of busses, maybe half a dozen or so, contained staff members and (we think) box seat ticket holders. One thing the parade could have done better is announced what was happening. We saw busses of people waving and we waved back and nobody really knew who they were.
And then, the Thunder arrived. Another six of so busses passed by with the entire team, owners, coaches, and other personnel. Earlier in the parade team members had exited the busses, given high-fives to the crowd, and even let people touch the trophy. By the time the busses got to us the heat had caught up with them and those shenanigans had ended.
The parade ended in Scissortail Park where the players took the stage and addressed the crowd, but after four hours in the heat we decided we’d had our fill. As the crowd turned into a mob Susan and I stayed in our seats for another ten minutes until things began to clear out. We finished the last drop of the drinks we had brought and made our way back to the car.
The entire parade was broadcast on local television and when we got home we pulled up the video to see what we had missed. Frankly you could see a lot more and better from the feed, but we wanted to be one of the few to see the parade in person. And by “few” I mean one of the (now estimated) 715,000 people in attendance.
Because of where we sat, it was incredibly easy for us to find ourselves in the crowd on the news. We’re both wearing blue — I’m wearing a black baseball cap and Susan’s wearing a white one. There’s no way you’ll make it out in this photo, but on our living room television, we could spot ourselves quite easily.
The Thunder landed in Oklahoma City 17 years ago. Although we got close a few times, this is the team’s first NBA title. Attending this parade and showing our support nay have been a once in a lifetime opportunity, so despite all the hassle and heat, in the end it was worth it. Thunder up!!!