Did naming the Oklahoma Franchise "Thunder" avoid a huge controversy?

When the franchise formerly known as the Seattle Supersonics moved to Oklahoma they left behind a lot of things; rivalries, broken hearts, memories of greatness, team history and the team name.

As the search began for a new name, there was a real potential for disaster.

The move to Oklahoma meant they were moving into a land where certain nickname possibilities would inevitably be suggested that could lead to huge controversy. That would be the connection to Native American imagery and naming conventions.

Oklahoma is closely associated with the histories of numerous Native American nations including the Five Civilized tribes. Even to this day there are large numbers of Native Americans who live there.

I am sure I was not alone in wondering if they would try to tap into that history with a name such as the "Oklahoma Cherokee" or some such reference to the Native American history. Names based on that are hardly rare in today's sporting world.

Unfortunately, all too many of those names or logos are highly offensive to anyone with even a modicum of understanding of our nation's history and many other names and logos are, if not outright offensive, at the very least of very, very questionable taste.

Names such as the "Redskins" are beyond the pale and I must admit, I am stunned it is still allowed. Even worse, verbose defenses are made at times attempting to claim a word that is equivalent to dropping the "n-bomb" is somehow not racist. Since the inception of the word it was used to disparage, insult, demean, and dehumanize.

Some of the names that are more questionable would include names such as the Braves, Warriors, Indians, Chiefs, Seminoles, and numerous others. This list is by no means even a broad representation of names that many Native Americans find offensive. But it does give you an idea of what kind of controversy could have been raised.

For many Native Americans names such as these evoke memories of centuries of broken treaties, maltreatment, massacres, and racism. It is a part of the identity internalized by many Native Americans even today and well-evidenced in popular writing such as Sherman Alexie's Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven or the devastating essays in Genocide of the Mind:New Native American Writing. The connection these nicknames make to the past for many Native Americans shines through clearly.

In light of these issues one can only imagine the firestorm of protest and controversy that would have erupted had the Oklahoma ownership chosen a name evoking Native American nations, histories, or symbols.  

Certainly there are many reasons people might be upset with the Oklahoma franchise. The way they left Seattle, the unbelievably ugly logo, their name matching that of the Golden State mascot, and ripping away what would have been an awesome rivalry between the exciting young core of Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green and Kevin Durant against the hot young Trailblazers squad, but this, at least, he got right.

So well done, Oklahoma. Thank you for demonstrating sensitivity to the issue of not using potentially offensive names.