Friday Bolts: 10.25.19 - Daily Thunder

How the Hornets and Hurricane Katrina made the Oklahoma City Thunder a reality. Speedy Claxton (former Hornets guard) said this of his expectations playing in OKC: “And you know, we really didn’t know what to expect because we didn’t have a superstar on our team at that point. So we just thought there was gonna be fans of the NBA more so you know like Kobe came in. Iverson came and we thought there was gonna be fans of those guys, but it was a complete opposite. Like they were booing ’em and I was like, wow, this is amazing. Like these fans really, truly get it and they cheer for their hometown team.”

The Thunder play their home opener tonight against the Washington Wizards, and Hinder will be the halftime entertainment. Hinder will play two songs, “Lips of an Angel” and a cover of the Eagle’s “Life in the Fast Lane.”

Berry Trammel (The Oklahoman) throws down a challenge to Thunder fans. With no Russell Westbrook and a likely losing season, Trammel says that Thunder fans have the opportunity to demonstrate their loyalty.

Dorian Craft (USA Today) with three takeaways from the Thunder’s season opening loss to the Utah Jazz.

Jasmin Wimbush (CBS Sports) says the Thunder were among the top 5 surprises from the NBA’s opening games. “While the Thunder would probably prefer to still have Paul George on their team, the players they got back not only showed up in the first game of the season, but also showed that the Thunder can compete this year.”

Patrick Patterson hit six three-pointers last night while starting for the Los Angeles Clippers. I believe that is twice as many as the total number of three-pointers he made in his entire Thunder career.

Patterson with four 3-pointers tonight, in his second game with the Clippers. He hit that many once in 145 games with the Thunder over the past two seasons. Nice bonus for the Clippers if he can have some consistency out there. https://t.co/9dF1lAots6
— Brett Dawson (@BDawsonWrites) October 25, 2019

A former Thunder player you may or may not remember made his debut with the Rockets and dropped 24/16/7 in a losing effort to the Milwaukee Bucks. It also appears that the Houston Rockets fans have embraced this player fairly rapidly.

Rockets fans are chanting Westbrook’s nickname, loving his effort and heart as he keeps Houston in it. They’re seeing exactly the kind of game Thunder fans staunchly defended his honor over, and Rockets fans were formerly critical of (24-16-7 on 7-17 shooting).
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) October 25, 2019

Vice President Mike Pence unloaded on the NBA’s handling of the China-Daryl Morey tweet-saga. In a speech at the Wilson Center, a think tank in Washington, D.C., Pence said the NBA “is acting like a wholly owned subsidiary” of China’s authoritarian regime by “siding with the Chinese Communist Party and silencing free speech.”

Something to think about: If you had asked me two days ago who the Fresh Prince of OKC was, I would’ve said Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. But boy, I might be convinced it’s Darius Bazley now.

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