Thunder receive NBA championship rings, raise banner before season opener against Rockets

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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Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams, right, greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver during the championship ring ceremony before an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jaylin Williams wears his championship ring during a ceremony before an NBA basketball game against thee Houston Rockets, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, right, hugs NBA commissioner Adam Silver during the championship ring ceremony before an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

The Oklahoma City Thunder pose with their championship rings in front of the 2024-2025 NBA Champions banner during a ceremony before an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looks at his championship ring during a ceremony before an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

Oklahoma City Thunder center/forward Chet Holmgren (7) celebrates during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Gerald Leong)

Oklahoma City Thunder Head Coach Mark Daigneault yells to his team during the second half of a preseason NBA basketball game against the Milwaukee Bucks Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) drives against Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel (7) during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) dribbles the ball against Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, right, during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An ailing astronaut returned to Earth with three others on Thursday, ending their space station mission more than a month early in NASA’s first medical evacuation.

SpaceX guided the capsule to a middle-of-the-night splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego, less than 11 hours after the astronauts exited the International Space Station.

“It’s so good to be home,” said NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, the capsule commander.

It was an unexpected finish to a mission that began in August and left the orbiting lab with only one American and two Russians on board. NASA and SpaceX said they would try to move up the launch of a fresh crew of four; liftoff is currently targeted for mid-February.

Cardman and NASA’s Mike Fincke were joined on the return by Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. Officials have refused to identify the astronaut who had the health problem or explain what happened, citing medical privacy.

While the astronaut was stable in orbit, NASA wanted them back on Earth as soon as possible to receive proper care and diagnostic testing. The entry and splashdown required no special changes or accommodations, officials said, and the recovery ship had its usual allotment of medical experts on board. It was not immediately known when the astronauts would fly from California to their home base in Houston. Platonov’s return to Moscow was also unclear.

NASA stressed repeatedly over the past week that this was not an emergency. The astronaut fell sick or was injured on Jan. 7, prompting NASA to call off the next day’s spacewalk by Cardman and Fincke, and ultimately resulting in the early return. It was the first time NASA cut short a spaceflight for medical reasons. The Russians had done so decades ago.

The space station has gotten by with three astronauts before, sometimes even with just two. NASA said it will be unable to perform a spacewalk, even for an emergency, until the arrival of the next crew, which has two Americans, one French and one Russian astronaut.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

This screengrab from video provided by NASA TV shows the SpaceX Dragon departing from the International Space Station shortly after undocking with four NASA Crew-11 members inside on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This photo provided by NASA shows clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui gathering for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows recovery vessels approaching the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 capsule to evacuate one of the crew members after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)