I enjoyed Nick Collison’s birthday tweet: “Thanks for all the bday wishes. They say 30 is the new 20. So I am looking for a house party and putting off writing this western civ paper.”
An anonymous NBA player is writing a blog for ESPN and pegs KD for MVP: “No chance Kobe wins another MVP. That means the next few (or more) MVPs will be awarded to the kid in Oklahoma City. Forget LeBron, D-Wade and Melo. They all had their shot. It’s over for them. They’re going to step aside — or get pushed aside — by KD. He’ll average 35 ppg and I predict that, in a season not far away, he’ll average 50, easy. He’s that good. And, at that point, you might see the first player in modern history to require a triple-team. He will absolutely go down as one of the top five players in the history of the NBA, alongside MJ, Kobe, Wilt and Bill Russell. That KD, he’s the real story of the season. Don’t sleep on him.”
The New York Times previewing the season says OKC is LA’s main threat: “The question in the West is, as ever, can anyone threaten the Lakers’ reign? Oklahoma City could become their greatest challenger, as the Thunder pushed the Lakers to six games in the first round last spring. Kevin Durant, who graces the cover of Sports Illustrated’s season preview, is poised to become the league’s most valuable player. The maturing Thunder, which improved from 23 wins in 2008-9 to 50 wins last season, should crack the top half of the playoff bracket, thus avoiding another first-round clash with the Lakers.”
Derrick Rose wants to kill Russell Westbrook: “During the last three summers, Bulls point guard Derrick Rose has spent much of his time in Los Angeles working out with Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook. They’ve developed a friendship off the court and were teammates on the U.S. team that won the FIBA world championship this summer in Turkey. But that doesn’t mean Rose will take it easy tonight when the Bulls face the Thunder in the season opener in Oklahoma City. ”We’re friends off the court,” Rose said. ”But on the court, I’m trying to kill you.”
Interesting that the Sonics 1979 championship trophy is in a museum in Seattle.
The Thunder’s asking people to arrive early and wear blue tonight.
Westbrook talking about playing Rose: “I wouldn’t call it a rivalry,” Westbrook said. “I would just say both guards are trying to make their teams better… I go out every night and try to compete and try to win. I’m not trying to make it a one-on-one battle. It’s my team against his team. So we’re going to go out there and try to compete.”
