Usher in the fun: Meet the Paycom Center employee bringing joy to work

Loud City is a state of mind and a chance to show off her authentic self for Paycom Center usher LaVonna Joubert. Every game she brings high-level energy for Oklahoma City fans sitting in sections 107 and 108 where she's responsible for guiding people to their seats and controlling the flow of traffic while the ball is in play. Joubert has worked at the arena off and on for a decade now, since she first answered a call for open interviews in 2016.

"I've always been team Thunder ," Joubert said. "They hired me on the spot and just being at the arena and being in the live action of the Thunder games made me love the team even more. " More: Ajay Mitchell, OKC Thunder overpower Lakers to close in on NBA playoff sweep Joubert's time working at the arena means she's seen the team through its ups and downs, its periods of rebuilding and watched games grow from sparsely attended to sold out, like the 108-90 defeat of the Los Angeles Lakers on May 5.

"I went through a lot of eras working at the arena, so it's been cool to actually see the transition of how small we were at first and how big we've become and being champions as of last season," Joubert said. In 2024, while working a game on her birthday, Joubert grabbed a button and a crown from one of the kiosks at the Paycom Center and put them on. She let her personality truly begin to shine during the pregame DJ set, and the arena's cameramen took notice.

"They captured me dancing randomly while that was going on or whatever and the crowd was loving it and they just kept putting me back on there the whole pre-game. And it wasn't just one time they just kept putting me back, kept putting me back and it was cracking me up," she said. "I love to dance, and music just moves me.