An excellent piece from SLAM on why Kevin Durant is ready to be the game’s next megastar: “It’s a busy pre-game on 
the court at the TD BankNorth Garden in Boston, and Kevin Durant is putting in work. Even though Durant was last season’s ROY, he’s been largely ignored this season, presumably because the 6-10 swingman’s immense promise has mainly been displayed in two of the NBA’s small markets. But know this: Kevin Durant is one of the top-five scorers in the NBA this season, and among 20-year-olds throughout NBA history, Durant has totaled more points than Kobe, Melo or Ice Man were able to. And don’t look now, but KD might just be bringing some respect to the unheralded Oklahoma City Thunder.”
Oregon Live breaks down every team in the West: “Thunder. While some may believe there’s a brighter future in Oklahoma City than in Portland, the Thunder still have some maturing to do before joining the postseason party. That’s not to say this team isn’t close to knocking on the door. A branch of the Spurs’ tree, much like Kevin Pritchard, Sam Presti has assembled himself a talented roster based around Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. And interim-now-head-coach Scott Brooks seems to have this team’s attention.”
Thabo Sefolosha and Drew Gooden are out doing… something. And it appears Thabo is flashing some sort of hand sign, while Gooden’s is a bit more obvious. Also, you’ll notice Joakim Noah in the background. Looks like it was a real par-tay.
HoopsWorld with a great story looking at the origins behind each team’s name: “The most recently-renamed team in the league, the name “Thunder” was chosen among four finalists when the franchise moved from Seattle to OKC just a little over a year ago. The other possibilities were “Thunderbirds,” “Barons,” and “Outlaws,” all of which seem to be more interesting than “Thunder,” which technically isn’t even something human beings can see or touch. Back in the 1960s, when the team was preparing for its inaugural season, “SuperSonics” won a fan-driven contest pretty easily; over 200 different entries listed that as the name. During that decade the Boeing Company announced plans to build a “SuperSonic Transport” that would be similar to a Concorde jet. The SuperSonic never got built, but the name certainly stuck. If basketball ever comes back to Seattle, one has to think they’ll revive the name. Let’s hope both happen someday relatively soon.”
A couple of people asked what the reference was in the headline of the Traber post. This is what it was from:
Kevin Durant has been on vacation in the Bahamas and he uploaded this beauty:
Joe Smith signed with the Hawks over the weekend: “According to reports Friday, the Hawks added veteran power forward Joe Smith to an already-promising mix that has improved steadily over the last five years, turning Atlanta into a legitimate contender in the East.”
Where do you reckon Russell Westbrook’s cross falls in this graph?
Darnell Mayberry on the Mo Cheeks addition: “At first glance, newly named Thunder assistant coach Maurice Cheeks might appear to be the heir apparent in the event Scott Brooks flames out in his first full run as head coach. Cheeks owns a 284-286 record over the equivalent of about seven full seasons as the lead man in Portland and Philadelphia. He’s guided his teams to the playoffs three times. He’s one of the most mannerly men in coaching. It’s enough to make you believe Brooks should keep one eye on the court and the other cocked over his shoulder. And we’re not saying someday he shouldn’t.” Hmm, that’s kind weird, isn’t it?
@Jax Raging Bile Duct
Not bad placement for RW. I'd however push him a little further down on the "unneccesary" rating. Not because he doesn't need it to drive, but just because he tends to throw the ball off his foot when he crosses.
ha ha that picture of kd is pretty awesome. kevin durant knows how to be pimping. ha
@Steve H
How dare you call OKC a b@#$*! Blah Blah Blah, I was a Major-Leauger, Blah Blah, Democrats Blah Blah....
@Steve H
I love the analogy!!
Heard LOTI (works for me) on drive home both "apologizing" for saying Collison bad-mouthed OKC, and then back pedaling to point out it wasn't JUST the tweet he was bashing Nick for, it was also his comments last year saying he "Didn't want to come to OKC". This moron is a real piece of work. Guy can't apologize for unfairly bashing Collison without once again bashing Collison for words that LOTI himself put in Nick's mouth. Collison NEVER said he didn't want to come to OKC- he said he didn't want to see the Sonics leave Seattle. I realize that sounds a bit nit-picky, but it goes right to the heart of this cluster@#$@. Saying you wish your parents' marriage had worked out isn't the same thing as saying you wish Dad hadn't left Mom for that b@#$* he is with now. No point in even trying to explain that distinction to LOTI- he would be screaming about three words into it, and hang up long before the part where you get a Johnny's coupon.
The loudmouth that shall not be named
The local yardbird
The voice of the has been
@dork
Loti is definitely a move in the right direction let's have a DT poll of our best posters to this site and hopefully Royce would kindly hook us up with it. hint....hint
@GAP
nickname? as in ... call him Loti? (lord of the idiots) .. or we could just call him Windy *gasps for air*
Wow, I see there's a whole lot goin on that I didn't know about. Been doing some serious training lately and i'm just getting around to some good reading again. I love the Mo Cheeks pick up and definitely hate the fact that Traber's actually gonna be on the sports news comming up soon.
Don't even use his name, let's give him a nickname on this site ala Bill Simmons' Zombie Sonics
@Royce
BOOOOMMMMM
Good stuff...
Tweet of the day I just go from Dylan:
"Your mistake was putting your name and email at the end of your column. He couldn't read that far without getting winded."
Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.
Yeah, still... it seems like something worthy of being recorded.
Ok, here's the deal:
I called and talked to Bobby Thompson, told him I didn't want to be yelled at by Traber and just informed him that I specifically said I wasn't an anonymous blogger, there's a picture of me on the site, I've done an interview with Sam Presti and that he was basically wrong about everything. Bobby said he'd let Jim know.
@Lefty
Doubt it...they really only do that for interviews.
@Royce
If you did call in I wouldn't pick a fight. Just share the credientials of the website (He's not sponsored by ESPN) and make sure he knows you put your name in the article with your email address.
Any chance they'll make The Apology into a podcast? And yes, I feel like capitalizing it is entirely appropriate.
Yea, I was listening.
Despite his misinformation about Royce's article, his apology was actually acceptable.
Almost to the extent it made me think he got slapped on the wrist & knows he needs to make-up.
@Anonymous
oops, that was me. haven't commented in awhile, forgot i was logged out
@Cpt. C-Note
A friend just told me about it. Unreal. I specifically put my name in there so that this wouldn't happen.
Traber is talking about out "little Thunder chat room" and calling Royce an "nameless blogger" even though he plainly posted his email and name. WTF? (He did call Royce articulate!)
Wow, I don't recall ever hearing Ru Paul and Meryl Streep being mentioned in the same sentence. Good show, sir!
@Royce
Don't worry about it Royce. My content filter is so uptight it makes Meryl Streep's character in Doubt look like Ru Paul.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct
Well now don't I feel dirty for linking to it.
The picture was clean... kind of. Gooden is giving the finger, but maybe it's the website. It's calle The Dirty. I checked it over for any bad side images and there weren't any, so I went with it. Strange. Maybe that site contains other bad things.
The funny thing about that link to Thabo... it's blocked by my content filter as being Adult/Sexually Explicit.
nice gang signs thabo. could have gone all year without seeing that. everyone knows not to mess with the Switzerland gangstas
Durant looks like "Starvin' Marvin" from South Park http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsaaUkKruvs&feature=related
@Jax Raging Bile Duct
Yeah, it is really dated. Kind of strange.
And I think Russ's cross is the to drive for sure. I think I'd put him about where you have him.
No dude looks right in a wetsuit.
That SLAM article was good, but I wonder why they sat on it so long?
I was going to say that Russell hasn't played enough to fall on the chart, but then Ziller went and put Jennings and Wall on there. But given Russell's jump shot, I'd say it's definitely not for space. A quick look at his hot spots affirms that. I would probably place him somewhere between Monta and Evans. Those two have a similar game, I think.
You have to like the Thunder blue on KD's wetsuit. And can you imagine how hard it is to find size 18 sandals?
@Lefty
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
I have a feeling Traber will be busted on over this for years. I'm ok with that.
@Doug
I honestly thought the same thing.
Where did the 10 lbs go that KD supposedly put on?
@Lefty
I think it's good every time. Just because I was so miffed about the whole stupid situation.
Yeah, the joke is pretty much played out. I realized that just after I hit submit.
@Lefty
Zing.
Thabo is still partying with his Chicago friends? Does this mean he hates OKC?