Monday Bolts – 9.28.09
A reminder: I’ll be at media day today so if you’ve got any last questions let them be known. The best so far: “Ask a
player about health care. When he starts to answer, interrupt with ‘You lie!'”
Darnell Mayberry with an interesting point about keeping Kevin Durant: “Familiarity alone certainly won’t get Durant’s signature on a long-term contract. But money won’t be an issue, as the Thunder already has cleared more than enough salary cap space to re-sign Durant to a max deal. The organization, in a short amount of time, also has proved to have ideal players in the front office and a supportive fan base in the Ford Center. And Durant has often said his laid-back personality meshes well with Oklahoma City’s low-key environment. But in roster continuity, Durant has a treasure few of his counterparts can lay claim to. Not LeBron James. Not Dwyane Wade. Not Chris Paul. Not Dwight Howard. Not Chris Bosh. Not Carmelo Anthony. Not Amare Stoudemire.”
Marc Stein’s first batch of power rankings are out and OKC checks in seven spots up from last year to No. 21: “Am I allowed to keep saying, even though I get their thinking, that I wish the Thunder had drafted Rubio? What about saying, high as I am on OKC’s future like everyone else, that playoff talk is still a tad premature?”
Simmons thinks Stein will regret putting the Thunder that low: “Poor Steiny Mo. He’s going to regret these power rankings. Especially re: Spurs, Nugs, [Thunder].”
Remember that lawsuit Seattle fans filed against Clay Bennett and the PBC? Yep, still going: “But under the radar, off the front pages, three Sonics season ticketholders launched a lawsuit against Bennett and the Professional Basketball Club (PBC) claiming that they had been lied to. And now, just over a year after the Sonics left town, that little lawsuit is working its way to trial and is the last, best hope to finally get some satisfaction and legal leverage against an arrogant ownership group that many feel lied, cheated, and stole from Seattle. This week, all 2007-08 Sonic season ticketholders received notice about their participation in a class action lawsuit against the Professional Basketball Club LLC. The documents contained in the notice outlined the history of the case and asked ticketholders if they would like to be represented in the class or decline participation.”
NBA Twitter rules are coming this week and that definitely affects the Thunder seeing as about 50 percent of the team tweets. Welcome the newest to the club, Uncle Jeff Green.
Sick ’em Jenni!: “Man this okc weather is crazy….one day its a thunder storm and the next day its a super hot..like today….” (@russwest44) … “Mannn it’s 7665578964346789 degrees out here n Arcadia, OK.” (@KevinDurant35)
Kevin Durant is just an 82 overall in the new NBA 2k10. Players like Danny Granger, Andre Iguodala and Joe Johnson are all in front of KD.
Durant screenshot from NBA 2k10
Pro Basketball News with a Thunder preview: “Prediction: Durant pushes Kobe, LeBron, D-Wade and ‘Melo for top scoring honors this season, making the Thunder a popular item on your nightly SportsCenter. The wins will come, too, though probably not enough to crack the Western Conference’s top eight. That said, participating in a stretch run that actually means something would be invaluable to the organization’s growth.”
Another preview, this time from Sparty and Friends: “So the roster doesn’t look too good. So what? These guys aren’t trying to win a ton of games. They’re trying to build. That said, there’s an obvious question. If they’re building, why didn’t they move Westbrook to shooting guard and draft RICKY FREAKING RUBIO instead of James Harden? Again, it looks like Presti might have had a plan. Everybody knew that the buyout was going to balloon if he dropped out of the top three. Picking third, Presti liked Harden a lot but also knew that the Spanish phenom would be great. Did he take one and keep the other out of the league instead of having one of the two and letting somebody else have the other? That might have been a good move.”
Alex, one of Daily Thunder’s most loyal minions saw Thabo and Serge at the Boyz II Men concert. Here’s photo proof. Please withhold any judgment about Thabo’s, um, expression. Camera flashes can be bright, you know.
A little Q&A with James Harden: “Many of the guys went to Washington, D.C. to support Kevin Durant for his birthday. Was that a good bonding experience for you guys? Definitely. It was like eight of us out there. I don’t think any other NBA team would do that. But we went out there and had a great weekend. We bonded and had a lot of laughs. Those things carry over to the court as well.”
