OKC Mayor Holt Responds After Tuesday Thunder Game Upsets Some Residents

Some people are upset that residents are being asked to conserve water and energy, but the Thunder were able to take the court Tuesday night.

OKC Mayor David Holt told News 9 the decision is not theirs to make. He said as landlords in this situation, the city doesn’t have the authority. Instead, the mayor said it’s up to the NBA and the Thunder. 

The city told News 9 they did work with ASM Global to reduce energy use. Tuesday night much of the video boards and anything that wouldn’t impact the game was turned off. 

OG&E said some other companies refused to take this type of action and conserve energy. 

Mayor Holt said he’s heard some people compare this situation to Texas, where the Dallas Mavericks game was postponed. He said that was a gubernatorial decision and doesn’t know if something like that is possible in Oklahoma. 

“I wouldn’t want to speculate,” said Mayor Holt. “I recognized that happened in Texas, but Texas is a different place with different laws. I would be scared to make that assumption without talking to an attorney.”

The governor’s office said stepping in isn’t off the table, but it would be a huge legal undertaking.