Owasso Man Creates Sculpture For OKC Thunder

An Owasso man is hoping to put his mark on the NBA Finals.

Randy Vaughn's day job is as a metal fabricator, but he and some friends are now working on their own fantastic creation to honor the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"I brought it out so it'd make it a little more easier. It's still a work in progress," Vaughn said. "Everything on it is hand cut and all done by the hands of Randy Vaughn."

Vaughn's day job is as a metal fabricator, making wrought iron fences and such, but he's also dabbled as a metal artist including this piece as a tribute to Wayman Tisdale.

He's now focused on the Oklahoma City Thunder and its run to the NBA Finals.

So as a tribute, Vaughn's making this sculpture for the Thunder.

At 450 pounds it features a basketball covered by 95 feet of cable made into a net to honor the basketball players, a 36-inch-high film reel as tribute to the staff behind the scenes that helps the players get ready for the game and a old school camera meant to celebrate Oklahoma's past.

Vaughn says the three designs honor our state's history and the Thunder's motto of "Team Is One."

"And that's the whole concept of it, is the team sculpture because it takes all to do the job," Vaughn said.

Vaughn and several friends have pooled their money to pay for the sculpture, about $3000 so far, and Skip's Paint and Body Shop in Tulsa has donated its efforts to paint it.

Once finished, the basketball will look like a basketball, the base will have a wood grain pattern with the Thunder logo and a Western Conference Champions sign, and the film reel will have pictures of Thunder players.

Vaughn says his reason for doing it is simple -- the Thunder does things the right way and helped give Oklahoma international attention.

"They showed everybody," Vaughn said. "We just as big boys as everybody else and they've proven it."

Vaughn says it should be finished in about three weeks.

He plans to donate it to the Thunder organization and hopes they can find a good place for it to be displayed.