It finally happened.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, who moved to OKC prior to the 200809 season from Seattle, were they were known as the Seattle SuperSonics, finally brought our state capitol city a championship The Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers 10391 in Game 7 of the National Basketball Association Finals on Sunday night at Paycom Center, after OKC took Game 5 120-109 on June 16 at home and losing Game 6 108-91 on Thursday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

OKC guard Shai Gilgeous- Alexander got a triple crown of sorts as he won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award for the 2024-25 season, the league’s leading scorer award and the NBA Finals MVP.

The celebration parade was slated to take place Tuesday.

Needless to say, this is going to be a memorable season of NBA basketball for OKC, and the state of Oklahoma.

Way to go, OKC — and for the last time this season, Thunder Up!

LSU Knocks ‘OmaHogs’ Out of CWS Before Winning Second National Title in Three Seasons The Louisiana State University Tigers accomplished two things last week at the Men’s College World Series.

From a regional standpoint, the Tigers ended stay in Omaha, Neb., for the Arkansas Razorbacks, a.k.a., the ‘OmaHogs,’ out of the MCWS with a comefrom-behind 6-5 win after the Razorbacks had a 5-3 lead in the national semifinals last Wednesday night.

Then, the Tigers proceeded to sweep Coastal Carolina in the CWC Championship Series by scores of 1-0 and 5-3 to win their second national title in the last three seasons.

The Razorbacks defeated Murray State 3-0 on June 16 behind a nohitter by Gage Wood, then they eliminated UCLA 7-3 on June 17 to reach the national semifinals.

The only bright spot that came out of CWS week for the Hogs was shortstop Wehiwa Aloy won the Golden Spikes Award, which is college baseball’s version of The Heisman.

One-Time Change Coming on School Hardship Waiver by OSSAA

Last month, the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) announced a one-time change to its school hardship waiver.

To be eligible for a one-time change of school hardship, the OSSAA said that students must submit a student transfer application through the State Department of Education’s website by July 15.

The OSSAA said that if a student is returning to their home district, the respective school must provide documentation showing the student began the enrollment process on or before July 15.

According to the OSSAA, a hardship waiver submitted after the July 15 deadline must demonstrate an unusual, unforeseen or unavoidable circumstance that compelled the student to change schools.

The OSSAA said that once the student has begun the enrollment process, the respective school is responsible for submitting the hardship waiver to the OSSAA.

Is it just me, or do I see a potential transfer portal happening like it is with college football? Time will tell.

Panthers Repeat as Stanley Cup Champions On June 17 at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla., the Florida Panthers repeated as Stanley Cup Champions as they defeated the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 in Game 6 for the second straight Stanley Cup Finals victory over the team from Canada.

The Oilers were trying to win O Canada’s first Stanley Cup since 1993, but instead it was the Panthers who got to hoist and skate around the arena with Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Congratulations to the Florida Panthers.

Congratulations, Minjee Lee

Minjee Lee is the latest LPGA major tournament champion as she won this past weekend’s Women’s PGA Championship, winning by three shots over Thailand’s Chanettee Wannasaen and American golfer Auston Kim.

Lee is 60 percent to her goal of winning all five women’s major events. She won the 2021 Evian Championship and the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open.

All that is left for the Thai golfer is to win the Chevron Championship and the Women’s Open.

I’ll Be Back on Monday I’m taking the rest of this week off so I can be with my 98-year-old mom, who is visiting me from her hometown — and mine — of Enid. She will be here with me until Independence Day.

I’ll be back at it on Monday.

If you need immediate assistance, reach out to my fellow newsroom cohorts — Reporter Lynn Adams (lynna@ cookson.news) or one of our three summer interns, Haley “Jade” Phillips (haley@cookson. news), Jacie Eubanks (jacie@cookson.news) and Ally Trotter (ally@ cookson.news). They will be more than glad to assist your needs.

••• Seeley is the sports editor of The Eastern Times-Register. He can be reached by calling (918) 775-4433, Ext. 139 or by e-mailing him at davids@cookson.news.