Oklahoma City Thunder unveils uniforms, TV contract

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Sep 30, 2008 by Jerry Shottenkirk

The Oklahoma City Thunder organization took two steps closer to the National Basketball Association season Monday when it unveiled new uniforms and announced a television agreement.

The Thunder's home uniform will be white with orange and blue trim with Thunder across the front, and the road uniform will be blue with orange trim with Oklahoma City across the front.

The color schemes came as no surprise since the team showed its official logo a few weeks ago.

The Thunder and Fox Sports agreed on a pact regarding regional television coverage.

Because of the Thunder's emergence on the scene, Fox Sports' local network will be Fox Sports Oklahoma when the season begins.

An "FS Thunder" logo will be on the screen during the 65 games it has agreed to carry. The remaining 17 games during the regular season will be carried by a local partner that will be announced later this week.

Earl Watson, Jeff Green, Nick Collison and 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year Kevin Durant modeled the uniforms for dozens of local, state and national media representatives who made it downtown.

Thunder coach P.J. Carlesimo and his players are fans of the new threads.

"I love 'em; I think they're great and I like the fact they are relatively simple," Carlesimo said. "The biggest mistake you can make with uniforms is going crazy with too much detail. We talked about respecting the heritage of the NBA, and I think we did it. I like the colors; I've been on them from day one."

Carlesimo said he's already getting plenty of positive reaction in the few weeks he's been here.

"To me it's noticeable now when you talk to people about the Thunder," he said. "You see people with the shirts on and the colors around. It's great."

The Thunder opens its training camp today, and Carlesimo and General Manager Sam Presti are ready to see some on-court action after going through the move from Seattle.

"Obviously we've had an interesting transition and we've had unbelievable support during the transition from community, staff, ownership, on down the line, and it wouldn't be possible for us heading into tomorrow without the momentum we have," Presti said.

Half of the Thunder's games on Fox Sports Oklahoma will be in high definition, officials said. The network also will have Thunder Live pre-game and post-game shows and a weekly on-air magazine.

Oklahoma City opens the season Oct. 29 in the Ford Center against the Milwaukee Bucks.

On the Net: www.nba.com/thunder