AMERICANWAY

DURANT: STREETER LECKA/GETTY IMAGES When Oklahoma City businessman Clay Bennett pur- chased the Sonics and sought permission from the NBA to move the team to his hometown, he easily won approval. The positive publicity generated by the Thunder has been priceless for the city. A business will not necessar- ily relocate its headquarters solely because a city has a major league sport, but it elevates the reputation of the area. "When we got the NBA, that just put us at a different level," Norick says. When the Thunder played the Miami Heat in the 2012 NBA Finals, the games were televised in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Commercial breaks at home games often included an impressive visual image of Oklahoma City from the air. "The beauty shots we get on national TV during Thunder games when they are going into or coming out of commercials are something we can't buy," says Seth Spillman, marketing and communications director of the Convention and Visitors Bureau. " We wouldn't be able to afford that on national TV." Durant, who was the NBA's Most Valuable Player in the 2013-14 season, also advanced the image of Oklahoma City when he resisted the temptation to go to a larger- market team after the 2009-10 season. Oklahoma City was enough of a major league city for him and he signed a five-year contract extension with the Thunder. "He said he liked living in Oklahoma City and enjoyed being here," Carrier says. "That kind of reinforced to all of us that we were doing something right." Before the Thunder arrived, the first thought many had at the mention of Oklahoma City was the horrific 1995 bombing of the A lfred P. Murrah Federal Build- ing — a crime that led to the 2001 execution of Timothy McVeigh, who set off the bomb. The bombing resulted in 168 deaths, almost 700 injuries and damage to or destruc- tion of more than 300 buildings. "Instead of the bombing, when you tell someone now that you live in Oklahoma City, the first thing they want to talk about is the Thunder," Spillman says. "The Thun- der has changed the perception of Oklahoma City nation- ally and internationally." Before t he 2013-14 sea son, t he T hu nder played preseason games in Istanbul and Manchester, England. "There were Kevin Durant and Thunder jerseys every- where," Thunder coach Scott Brooks says. "I couldn't believe it. That really says a lot about Oklahoma City." o be a big league city, however, it takes more than a sports team. "You have to have a lot of nice things," Norick says. "We think we have them." Indeed, the city offers a variety of indoor and outdoor activities. Many embrace the proud Western heritage T 36,000 300 20 The number of minutes it takes to drive anywhere in Oklahoma City due to three major highways — I-35, I-40 and I-44 — converging The approximate number of Western and American Indian works of art and artifacts housed in the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum The average number of days per year that the sun shines in Oklahoma City G O F I G U R E A A .CO M/A M E R I C A NWAY O C TO B E R 2 01 4 7 7

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