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Baxter Holmes on turning his ESPN.com story into E60’s ‘The Oklahoma Standard’
Baxter Holmes had already done his job.
The ESPN senior writer wrote a long-form piece, “How the Thunder helped heal Oklahoma City 30 years after unimaginable terror,” last fall. But now, he was going to do something that was simultaneously the same and completely different. For the first time ever, Holmes worked on turning his almost 10,000-word story into a 49-minute documentary for E60.
The Oklahoma Standard chronicles OKC’s NBA triumph following an infamous tragedy. We recently caught up with Holmes to discuss how the project came together and what it was like to make his documentary debut.
The Oklahoma Standard is available on demand in the ESPN App.
Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Awful Announcing: Did you always think this would become an E60 documentary?
Baxter Holmes: “I’ve reported a lot of long-form print stories over the years for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, and various ESPN executives have engaged me on a number of them about adapting them into a long-form television piece. But for one reason or another, it was hard to find one that worked— either because of timing, because the subject matter didn’t translate to video, or for some other reason.”
What made this story different?
“I’ve still maintained connections with folks. They always encourage me to tell them when I’ve got an idea cooking, and I’ve worked with a number of them to create television/video elements for long-form stories. One of those people is David Seronick. We’ve worked together for years to create video pieces for my print stories, and on the day my story on the Thunder and the bombing came out in the fall of 2025, he immediately messaged me about turning it into a documentary.”
Sun, new @E60 examines how @okcthunder helped Oklahoma City emerge from darkness following ’95 terrorist attack
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) April 20, 2026
@Baxter reports how the #NBA team has made bombing history a profound piece of the organization
‘The Oklahoma Standard’ | 11a ET | ESPN
What were the challenges in making this a documentary?
“This is the first documentary I’ve ever been part of. I was learning as I went. Thankfully, ESPN has an ace team, and we worked with a great crew in Oklahoma who held my hand and guided me through everything. I think, logistically, it’s probably just coordinating interviews with NBA people during the course of an NBA season, when everybody’s bouncing around the country. That’s certainly a challenge.”
As an Oklahoma native, what did this story mean to you personally?
“I’m as close to this story as any I’ve ever worked on. I’m an Oklahoman, first and foremost. I was in third grade in Tuskahoma, Oklahoma, when the bombing happened in 1995. I was in college at the University of Oklahoma when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, and the Hornets temporarily relocated to Oklahoma City. I attended those first Hornets games as a student reporter for The Oklahoma Daily and was still at OU when the Thunder arrived.
“As the 30th anniversary approached in 2025, I kept thinking about how the victims’ families, survivors, and first responders felt about the team’s effort to maintain the connection. That, to me, was the part missing from all the stories about the 30th anniversary and the Thunder players and staff’s tour of the memorial. Those were the voices we weren’t hearing— from the people who were directly impacted.”
How difficult is it to interview people on camera about a highly sensitive topic?
“One thing I tried to be mindful of was giving people space to feel. When you’re interviewing someone about a really heavy subject, you want to give them space to express themselves however they feel they need to. The subject matter was heavy, talking to people who had lost loved ones or colleagues. I tried to be mindful of that while I was conducting interviews. Give as much space as anyone needs, and as much time, and be as respectful as I can, because you’re asking people to talk about really, really painful things.”
Every trip the @okcthunder make to the Oklahoma City Memorial is a unique experience – especially for the players born after the Oklahoma City Bombing.
— E60 (@E60) April 21, 2026
Watch “The Oklahoma Standard” April 26 at 11 AM ET on @ESPN and the ESPN App. pic.twitter.com/YOkNuizcVY
Was it difficult to get general manager Sam Presti to do an interview, since he rarely speaks 1-on-1 with reporters?
“I think the Thunder and others who ultimately participated in the story saw how in-depth the print story was and how we were giving voices to survivors, first responders, victims, and family members. It’s been my experience that when people see the work, they can sense that it’s something they want to be part of. There’s a level of effort and professionalism that’s being applied there. We talked to Sam for about 45 minutes. He was wonderful. This is a subject that’s near and dear to him. He’s kind of the key link between the Thunder and the Memorial Museum. He’s on the board of (trustees).”
How did you uncover the story about Sam Presti and Sara Sweet, whose father was killed in the bombing?
“I uncovered that last summer during the Finals. I was there for Game 7. She swung by the memorial before heading into the arena. That’s when she put the T-shirt on her father’s chair. I saw it, and I connected with the museum, and she and I ended up speaking the next day. After the championship, we spoke a lot that morning, and she told me that during the Finals, she was thinking about her dad a lot, writing this note to Sam, and then him swinging by her house in person to deliver this moving note. I ultimately had to sit on that bit of reporting until the story was published in the fall.”
What stood out to you during your interview with Jack Thompson, a first responder in 1995?
“He’s never visited the memorial. Even three decades later, it’s still too real, raw, and painful. I’ve learned throughout this process that the trauma from that event remains for so many who directly experienced it. They were first responders then, or they still carry glass beneath their skin from the blast, or they lost a family member. They are triggered by certain things. What really stuck with me is how much those people still carry these things in their day-to-day lives and how they move forward as best they can.”
A photograph from the Oklahoma City Thunder championship parade represents the story of the city so much, it literally hangs in a museum.
— 30 for 30 (@30for30) April 26, 2026
Why was it important to include Jimmy Do, who took the iconic photo during the Thunder parade?
“The photo Jimmy took is, first of all, perfect, and it’s perfect because it encapsulates so many things about Oklahoma City’s journey from April 19, 1995, to today. Everything in that single frame captures, as many have said, the city’s greatest tragedy and greatest triumph. It’s an image that will undoubtedly live forever in Oklahoma City, and Jimmy deserves so much credit for capturing it.”
What’s the one thing you hope people take away from this documentary?
“The city’s response to that event has been extraordinary, and the team’s role in it cannot be overstated. There’s something about the power of community and coming together, and, in some ways, the goodness of people during the hardest times. There are all the ideas of resilience that echo throughout the city and the team’s story. Those are the things that stay with me, and I hope that’s conveyed throughout the documentary.”
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