Daily Thunder.com

Matt Moore of CBSSports.com on Russell Westbrook: “Kevin Durant gets the accolades. Westbrook gets the criticism. Westbrook has been phenomenal this year, as he was last year, and were he on his own team, we’d be talking about him as a fringe MVP candidate the same way we talk about James Harden. Instead, he is mocked for his fashion sense and told to give the ball to Durant more. Westbrook should be applauded for the burden he carries for OKC as their only other significant consistent offensive contributor and for the adaptation he’s made to be more of a distributor since Harden was traded. But no one seems to like that story as much as “Should the Thunder have kept James Harden and traded Russell Westbrook?” So the same story goes on. Westbrook has been the best point guard no one seems to notice has been great.”

Amin Elhassan of ESPN Insider ranks Kevin Martin his 21st best free agent: “Martin’s experienced most every role in the league: unheralded, low-first-round pick; up-and-coming young bench player; franchise player; and now bench scorer for a contender. It’s interesting to see him flourish in that role after clearly being frustrated with the expectations of his previous contract. A three-year, $16.5 million deal would compensate him for what he brings off the bench for a contending team, while the player option allows him to pursue a bigger contract should he choose to go back to being a big fish in a small pond.” Keep Reading…

Bill Simmons has KD as a big loser from the Heat’s streak: “With 10 games remaining in the season, he’s averaging 28.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game (borderline Bird territory). He’s headed for his fourth straight scoring title, something only Wilt and MJ have pulled off. He’s shooting 50.2 percent from the field, 41 percent on 3s and 90.7 percent from the charity stripe, giving him a phenomenal chance to become just the sixth player ever to make the 50-40-90 Club. (The others: Bird, Nash, Dirk, Reggie and Price.) Oh, and he’s the best player on a 60-win team. How efficient is Kevin Durant? He’s going to lead the league in scoring without leading his own team in field goal attempts. Can we get an old-school ECW-style “HO-LY SHIT! HO-LY SHIT!” chant going please? Here’s the point: Poor Durant’s MVP campaign wasn’t just overshadowed by LeBron and this Miami streak, it was steamrolled and left for dead. Too bad. As Whitlock would say, keep doing the damn thang, KD.”

Berry Tramel: “I walked into the office Thursday morning, and my sports editor said, “Hey, you took it easy on Derek Fisher.” Then I answered emails from Thunder fans wanting to know why I was supporting Fisher. I went on the radio Thursday afternoon, and Jim Traber was mystified on why I would give the Thunder a platform to defend Fisher, his shooting slump and his playing time, which to some of us seems excessive. But between those events, I got an email from a reader named Joe, who wrote, “Did your mother ever tell you to say nothing if you can’t say something good? Ignoring a subject or person sends a strong message in itself. I’m ashamed of your two recent articles on Fish.” And Friday, I got a phone message from an elderly lady with a 527 prefix who said: “Mr. Tramel, are you out of your mind?. I just read what you wrote, and I’m ashamed of you. I’m ashamed of you for the remarks you made about Fisher and for other things. Sure, you have a lot of freedom with the press. But let’s not put down people in this day and time. We need to build up people and share the joy of just enjoying sports. I don’t know if I’ll read your column anymore. I’m terribly upset with what you have written.” Keep Reading…