The NBA Finals are shining a positive light on a city that deserves it.

Oklahoma City came into the national spotlight in 1995 for the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building that claimed 168 lives. And for this sorrowful news Oklahoma City remained in the memories of many Americans.

New York City and the Hawaiian island of Oahu both have suffered horrible attacks. Both brought worse destruction and death than what happened to Oklahoma City. Yet neither of those places are thought of primarily by the violence that occurred there. However, the capital of Oklahoma remains widely associated with the 1995 act of domestic terror. Some might recall the F5 tornado that hit the city in 1999.

Despite growth and revitalization, the city hasn’t ended up in the national spotlight for good news.

At least until it lured the Seattle SuperSonics away from the Emerald City in 2008 and renamed the team the Oklahoma City Thunder, a name partially based on how loud the fans get at basketball games. The city is nicknamed Loud City. It also refers to the many thunderstorms that roll across Oklahoma.

The team this season made the NBA Finals. If you don’t know sports, that’s like the World Series for basketball. The team made it there thanks to the work of stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, along with a solid team that regularly focuses on the positive, rather than moaning about negative factors that can happen in any game.

And the coverage of the team has brought the national spotlight to the work of Oklahoma City to beautify and expand itself.

We can all agree that the city surely deserves that good publicity. In fact, it is long overdue.