The Thunder have plenty of reasons to feel like a featured act entering the 2026-27 season. They won an NBA championship two seasons ago, they’re led by reigning league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and they’re being tagged as the favorites to bring home the Larry O’Brien Trophy again.
That’s why their absence from two of the NBA’s biggest regular-season showcases stands out.
Oklahoma City will still be front and center on opening night, closing out October 20’s tip-off with a road game against the Spurs. They’re also lined up for a second straight Christmas Day appearance, this one coming in a 2025 Western Conference Finals rematch against Minnesota. Those are the kind of dates contenders expect to land on, so their inclusion is hardly a shock.
What is more surprising is where the Thunder are missing.
They were left off both Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents’ Day, two of the league’s most-watched days on the regular-season calendar. Of the teams sitting in the top four of NBA Championship odds, Oklahoma City is the only one not scheduled for a game on either holiday, which makes the omission hard to ignore.
Even with that snub, the Thunder’s season will begin with a heavyweight test and a chance for instant payback.
San Antonio knocked Oklahoma City out of the playoffs in a rugged Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, ending the Thunder’s bid to become the first repeat champion since the 2018 Warriors. The Spurs also took four of five regular-season meetings, leaving them with an 8-4 edge over the Thunder across the year.
Cason Wallace said the Thunder have acknowledged that San Antonio “got the best of us” last season, and he added that the loss has sparked their “competitive spirit” and has the club .
Now Oklahoma City gets the first swing. Opening night against the Spurs gives the Thunder an immediate shot to answer back and start the season on the right note.
In Other News...
Kevin Durants Westbrook Message Hits Right At Thunder Fans History
Russell Westbrooks retirement announcement prompted a flood of reaction across the NBA, but Kevin Durants message landed especially hard for Thunder fans who lived through the rise of that era in Oklahoma City. Durant looked back on the eight years they spent together with the franchise, emphasizing the grind, the shared day-to-day work and the way their partnership helped define a run that put the Thunder at the center of the league conversation.
For a fan base that still measures that stretch by playoff pushes and what might have been, Durants note carried the weight of history instead of nostalgia for its own sake. He credited Westbrooks impact on the franchise and on the teams legacy, a reminder that even as their paths split long ago, the imprint they left in Oklahoma City is still part of the story being told whenever either name comes up. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Fans Already Have One Big Russell Westbrook Debate
Russell Westbrooks retirement closes the book on an 18-season NBA run that began in Oklahoma City and helped define an era for the Thunder. He spent his first 11 seasons with the franchise, won an MVP award, made nine All-Star teams and turned the triple-double into part of the leagues everyday conversation. Even with his career now officially finished, his place in Thunder history feels settled, and the only real question around the organization is how soon the team will formally honor him.
There is already widespread expectation that Oklahoma City will retire Westbrooks No. 0 jersey, and Jalen Williams recently floated the idea that the ceremony could happen at the teams upcoming home opener. For Thunder fans, that only adds to the anticipation around a player who remains one of the franchises defining figures. The debate now is not really whether Westbrook belongs in that rafters conversation, but when the moment will arrive and how the organization chooses to frame it. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Fans Will Get Some Emotional Title Reunion Games This Season
The Thunders championship season now has a few familiar faces scattered around the league, and the first wave of reunion nights will arrive early. Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins, now teammates in Atlanta after Oklahoma Citys 2026 offseason shakeup, are scheduled to come back through Paycom Center in November, giving fans a chance to see two pieces of the title run in opposing colors.
Isaiah Joe is next up, with Detroit bringing him back to Oklahoma City in December, while Branden Carlsons return wont come until 2027 after his trade to Portland. For a fan base that just watched a title group get broken up in pieces, the calendar is already setting up a handful of emotional nights, even if some of the biggest reminders of what the Thunder built are still ahead. [Read more 🡒]