Downtown OKC preparing for half a million Thunder fans for victory parade
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — After a thrilling seven game series, the Oklahoma City Thunder are NBA champions.
The city has been celebrating ever since and downtown is preparing to welcome half a million fans for the champions parade Tuesday morning.
The parade route starts at NW 10th Street and N. Harvey Avenue and heads south
on Harvey, west on NW 5th Street, south on N. Walker Avenue, east on Oklahoma
City Boulevard, south on S. Robinson Avenue, and ends at Scissortail Park.
Preparation for the parade started well before the Thunder won the championship, but you could physically see downtown start to transform Monday morning.
Championship banners started to go up, barricades were placed and the streets officially shifted into parade mode.
"There will be street closures for the route and some buffer zones around that route for safety, there will be portable toilets that will be deployed around portable trash cans. You'll see some other screens for some viewing areas and public viewing areas that are spread throughout the route," said Jennifer Nakayama, CEO, Downtown Oklahoma City Partnership.
Fans from all across the state and even the world will be at the parade.
"I think it's going to be electric," said Nicholas Economos.
Economos came to Oklahoma City all the way from Australia.
"Fanatical fan and it was unreal. I'm so happy I'm buzzing," said Economos.
Aidan Cramer is another fan, he drove here all the way from Illinois. He had to pay a little extra to extend is hotel stay, but says it's all worth it.
"I don't think words are going to describe it. It's going to be awesome, I can't wait. I've been dreaming about this for 17 years now, so my whole life pretty much," said Cramer.
Not only are the fans preparing, but also businesses.
"There are some businesses that may contemplate this might be a day to close the office and let our employees just enjoy and partake in this historic moment and then there's other businesses like restaurants and retailers that are actually hyped up and super excited," said Nakayama.
It will be a historic moment for the team, the city and the fans that never stopped believing.
For everything you need to know about the parade, click here.