Newspaper Deletes Column Comparing the Oklahoma City Thunder to Israel

"The Thunder won their first NBA title in 2025 since the team was sold, relocated from Seattle, and renamed, and are currently battling the San Antonio Spurs for the Western Conference title. (The Thunder lost Game 1 shortly before publication.) On Monday, the Thunder's hometown paper published a curious comparison between the team and the state of Israel in an op-ed written by guest columnist Eitan Reshef, reported Sean Keeley at Awful Announcing."

"the op-ed was headlined, Like Thunder, Israel is an underdog that has become hated and shared with an image of a basketball bearing the design of the Israeli flag, white with blue stripes and a Star of David. Screenshot via X. The op-ed went viral on social media and not, perhaps, in the way the author intended (or maybe exactly how the author intended, who knows), Keeley added."

"It was pulled down from The Oklahoman's website shortly thereafter. The link to the op-ed on The Oklahoman's website now has a 404 page not found error, and the Internet Archive did not manage to capture it before it was deleted, but several websites that syndicate the newspaper's content still have it live, including MSN. The Oklahoman did not comment on Reshef's column or why it was deleted."

"As both a fiercely proud Oklahoman and a Jew, wrote Reshef, the parallels between the Thunder and the nation of Israel are difficult to ignore. Neither was supposed to become what it is. R"

An Oklahoma City newspaper published an op-ed comparing the Oklahoma City Thunder to Israel. The column framed both as underdogs that became hated, using an image of a basketball designed with the Israeli flag and a Star of David. The piece circulated widely on social media and was removed from the newspaper’s website shortly afterward, leaving a 404 error. The original page was not captured by the Internet Archive before deletion, though syndicated versions remain accessible through other sites. The newspaper did not provide a public explanation for the removal. The syndicated version identifies the author as a native Oklahoman and a Chicago-based entrepreneur and investor.

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