Thunder Standard – Playing with Purpose, Duty in 2019-20

By Nick Gallo | Broadcast Reporter & Digital Editor | mailbag@okcthunder.com

IN 2005, CHRIS PAUL and a makeshift operation set up shop in Oklahoma City. It was Paul’s first time living anywhere besides a southern college town – Winston-Salem, N.C.

Paul was the prized rookie of the New Orleans Hornets, a team finding refuge in Oklahoma City and unknowingly setting up an eventual Thunder relocation. He lived in Edmond, ate with his brother at Charleston’s every day before games and practiced at Southern Nazarene University.

Nearly 15 years later, downtown Oklahoma City has undergone an incredible revitalization, with development projects, hotels, restaurants and housing springing up everywhere.…