By CLIFF BRUNT AP Sports Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma City Thunder received their NBA championship rings Tuesday night before their season opener against the Houston Rockets.
Oklahoma City beat the Indiana Pacers in the Finals last season to win their first title since the franchise moved from Seattle in 2008. The Thunder won it all after a 68-14 regular season that earned them homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs.
Commissioner Adam Silver addressed the crowd before awarding rings to Thunder chairman Clay Bennett and team president Sam Presti. After that, the players came through a tunnel one by one, first hugging Silver, then Presti before receiving their rings from Bennett.
League MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the last to receive his ring. He recieved M-V-P chants as he stood in the tunnel in the moments before he stepped onto the court. After he received his box, he opened it, looked at the ring and shimmied before joining his teammates.
“It was surreal,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I don’t know how to describe it besides that. It was super fun, though. Seeing the banner raised was cool too, knowing that it’ll be up there forever. And we’re the first group to bring the city a championship. It’s a pretty special feeling.”
The rings, designed by Jostens, are set in 14-karat gold with more than 800 custom-cut, hand-set gemstones.
The front of the rings have the letters OKC in diamonds on top of the team’s shield with the championship trophy outlined in gold around it. Forty-six taper-cut genuine blue sapphires encircle the logo. The rings have the letters NBA on the upper part of the front in diamonds with a gold background and the word champions on the lower part, also in diamonds with a gold background.
The rings have a ring within a ring feature, allowing recipients to wear the inner band as an alternative to the outer ring. There are 94 diamonds along the top and bottom edges of the inner band with the player’s signature engraved and their jersey number in diamonds. The numbers of each teammate wraps around the band.
The outer palm side of the main ring includes a tribute to the Gates of Time and the Reflecting Pool at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.
After the rings were handed out, the championship banner was raised.
The stars from that winning team — Gilgeous-Alexander, All-Star Jalen Williams and rising star Chet Holmgren — are back with the Thunder after signing extensions in the offseason. Coach Mark Daigneault and most of the bench return to make Oklahoma City one of the favorites again.
Houston’s new star is Kevin Durant, the ex-Thunder forward. His presence has put Houston on the short list of teams considered capable of dethroning Oklahoma City. Durant, 37, signed a two-year extension on Sunday.
Durant won four scoring titles and the 2014 MVP award with the Thunder before leaving to join the Golden State Warriors in free agency in 2016. Many Thunder fans felt betrayed after Durant joined the team that beat Oklahoma City in the Western Conference Finals months before he switched teams.
Those fans got one more thing to celebrate on Tuesday — a 125-124 double-overtime win over the Rockets.
“Definitely the night was different,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “A little out of rhythm for us on a usual game day, but it’s not an excuse. It was for the Rockets as well. We just found a way to gut out a victory on a night that was a little funky, but I’ll do it all over again the same way if we win, so I’ll take it.”
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