The Thunder Will Not Recognize the Sonic's 1979 NBA Championship on Their Jerseys

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Complex Original

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Fans in Seattle are still a little salty over Oklahoma City's heist of their beloved SuperSonics. So it was probably a smart move to not throw anymore shade in the northwest's direction by stealing their championships too.

When the NBA recently announced that teams will don gold patches commemorating their championship seasons, it left many fans wondering what the Oklahoma City Thunder would do. You see, the franchise won the 1979 NBA Finals as the Seattle SuperSonics but have since relocated to Oklahoma City and taken on a completely new identity. On Tuesday, Chris Arena, the NBA's vice president of outfitting, identity and equipment confirmed that the Thunder will not be recognizing the Sonics championship on their jersey.

“As of right now, they are not wearing it,” Arena said. “They actually would have had to have told us that some time ago, and that was their choice. We have several teams who have a lineage that exists prior to the city that they’re in ...Some teams embrace that past, some teams don’t. Whether it’s because of ownership changes or perhaps the lineage is too great of a distance or the team nickname changed or whatever it may be, that’s their decision.”

For those wondering, the gold tags will not appear on the NBA's replica "Swingman" jersey. In order to get the bona fide on-court look of your NBA franchise, you will have to shell out $299.95 for an authentic jersey.

[NewsOK]

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