NBA mascot power rankings, best past and present

7. Rumble the Bison: Oklahoma City Thunder

When the Seattle SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City prior to the 2008-09 NBA season, they took the man who portrayed Squatch with them. But since having a fictional beast that’s supposedly indigenous to the Pacific Northwest would make little sense in the midwest, the team needed to come up with something more in line with the city’s rustic roots.

Eventually, they settled on Rumble, named after the sound of stampeding bison and the sound thunder makes. The origin story the team gave him is…well, read it for yourself:

"For hundreds of years, the tale has been told around Native American campfires. A great herd of American bison was lost in the Arbuckle Mountains during a ferocious storm – the kind only Oklahoma can produce. Hail fell and tornadoes spun all around the herd as they stampeded, trying to find their way down to the safety of the plains. One lone bison stayed behind as he helped each of his friends escape down a treacherous ravine…once all of his friends were safe he began his descent only to find his way blocked by fallen boulders. Lost, he climbed to the tallest peak; left to face the storm alone and searching for a way down the mountain, he was struck by a bolt of lightning. The bolt did not destroy him, but, by the power of the god of thunder, changed him. Suddenly, he walked on two legs like a man. He possessed amazing strength and agility – he could jump higher, run faster, think more clearly than any beast."

The Spark Notes version of the rest of the story goes like this: Rumble was doomed to roam the earth alone due to him not fitting in with bison or humans until Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the rest of the team took him in, gave him a Thunder jersey and made him their mascot. Considering he won the 2009 Mascot of the Year award, they apparently made the right decision.