Sports & Recreation
A 2025 NBA championship banner already up at Paycom Center, and two 2028 Olympic events awarded to existing Oklahoma City venues rather than new construction in Los Angeles.
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder won the 2025 NBA championship, beating the Indiana Pacers 4-3 in a series that went to a Game 7 — the first NBA Finals Game 7 since 2016 — at the Thunder's own Paycom Center in downtown OKC on June 22, 2025. It was the franchise's second championship and its first since relocating to Oklahoma City in 2008; guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was named Finals MVP, becoming the first Canadian to win the award.
Riversport Rapids & Oklahoma City's 2028 Olympic venues
Los Angeles's 2028 Olympics organizing committee chose to hold Olympic canoe slalom at Oklahoma City's existing whitewater course at Riversport Rapids, part of the city's Boathouse District on the Oklahoma River, rather than build a new course in Los Angeles County. Oklahoma City is also hosting 2028 Olympic softball at the city's existing softball stadium, which already hosts the NCAA Women's College World Series every June — making OKC one of the handful of subsites for the Games located outside the Los Angeles area itself, using existing local venues instead of new Olympic construction.