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Anonymous
>Mason, Wilkins, Carlesimo Agree: Logo a Hit >Thunder.nba.com
>Nothing against black and white, those two paired up just fine for Summer League uniforms and the first run of T-shirts and hats. The name on the front was fine, too: just Oklahoma City.
>But now as the heat of summer cools toward fall, coaches, players and fans needed a splash of color. And a name to put after Oklahoma City.
>Say hello to the Thunder.
>"At first I was like, 'Well it's not that big a deal,' " Head Coach P. J. Carlesimo told reporters Wednesday. "But believe me, after a couple of months it is a big deal. I'm tired of people saying what's your name and us saying we're the Oklahoma City ... and we didn't know what to say. We didn't have colors and it really is, it's a lot more meaningful than I thought it would be."
>A lot of meaning and thought went into Oklahoma City's nickname. THUNDER. It means power and energy and, "It represents passion," Thunder forward Damien Wilkins said. "And hopefully we'll go out on the floor and represent this city the way it should be represented. It will have a lot to do with the noise that will be made in the Ford Center this year."
>Each of the colors selected have a special meaning in Oklahoma.
>"The colors reflect much about Oklahoma," Thunder Chairman Clay Bennett told the large crowd gathered in the lobby of Leadership Square for the annoucement ceremony. "Our primary color is the blue of our state flag, the sunset of the red and the orange." And to keep OU and OSU fans happy, "not too red and not too orange," Bennett clarified. "And the beautiful Oklahoma sun reflected in the yellow."
>"I love the things Clay said about the thought that went into it," Carlesimo said. "Representing the flag and the sunset but more importantly what Clay and (General Manager) Sam Presti want the franchise to stand for. It's a little more tangible now. We've got colors. We've got a name and it's going to make a big difference."
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