When discussing the Thunder’s 120-109 home win over the Pacers, ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins playfully chided fellow analyst Richard Jefferson over an exchange he was having with Perkins’ wife, Vanity. “Were you just waving at my wife?” Perkins asked Jefferson, who was seated beside “SportsCenter” host Scott Van Pelt.

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The Thunder are one win from their first NBA title since the team moved from Seattle in 2008. The Pacers are on the brink of elimination.

So transfixed by not only the team, but also the city, Anderson’s magazine story was the precursor to “Boom Town” — Anderson’s book, published in 2018, that intertwines the rise of Oklahoma City with Thunder basketball. “Boom Town” is equal parts historical and hysterical in telling the story of Oklahoma City.