Friday Bolts – 8.5.16
Nathaniel Friedman for the Victory Journal: “Absolutely nothing about Russell Westbrook has
changed; the shift has been in our perception of him. What remains to be seen is how this narrative holds up over the course of an entire season. Certainly, we haven’t uncovered the real Russell Westbrook. We’ve just been afforded the opportunity to see him in a new light. On a fundamental level, Westbrook is allergic to making people too happy or letting them get too comfortable. Whatever it is that compelled him to stay in Oklahoma City, it sure as hell wasn’t you or I. Kevin Durant may have made an unpopular decision, but it’s Westbrook who could give a f— about a popularity contest.”
Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report: “While Durant chose to play new-school ball on easy street with the nearly-sure-thing Golden State Warriors, Westbrook wants the colossal challenge of being an old-school main man saddled with the outsized responsibility to will an underdog team someplace no one expects it can go. See how much we’ve learned about them already Separating them clarifies them. Although he’s averse to sharing his deeper truths and strongest convictions with the media, Westbrook has a voice on the basketball court, where he lets loose—and even in the locker room, where he is a funny, even sweet, influence. But if we accept that he doesn’t care to open the window to his soul for strangers, we begin to understand what he is actually doing. He is a person for whom actions speak louder than words.”
A teacher made a “No KD Zone” in his classroom.
Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical: “As much as Durant had people of influence coming and going in his life – a revolving door of agents and spiritual gurus, personal trainers and various hangers-on – Westbrook’s inner circle never changed. His parents, his wife and his agent. With Durant, there was perpetual calculation of who had his ear and who had nudged his way into prominence. This was important information for those recruiting him to stay, and those recruiting him to leave. With Westbrook, it was simpler. Go to Russell and talk it out. He is fiercely loyal and fiercely cautious: Earning his trust takes years and years; losing it takes but a moment.”
Here’s a thing I wrote on Russ.
Anthony Slater’s last piece for the Oklahoman: “From their late teens to their late 20s, the two, together in a city random and new to both, built up a relocated franchise into their identity. Those around the team tell legends of their early-morning combo workouts, racing each other to the gym hours before practice and bonding in a quiet facility. Durant has talked about how both Westbrook and Kendrick Perkins were there for him a few years ago when he was going through some family issues. Durant attended Westbrook’s wedding last summer.”
Matt Moore of CBSSports.com: “It is fair to say the book on Presti has had many additions and revisions. Every season he has faced a different pressure, due to the Thunder’s inability to win a title. That’s the simplest version of it all. The Thunder haven’t won a title, so people have extrapolated what they wanted from it with regard to Presti. One decision after another has been a mistake. Not having enough veterans in 2012. Having too many veterans in 2014. Having too little experience in 2015. And then, the failure to finish off the team with the greatest regular-season mark in history who also happened to be defending champions and also went absolutely supernova, even by their measures.”
Berry Tramel: “Oklahomans are no different from anyone. We like to hear sweet nothings in our ear. But we heard similar talk from another Thunder superstar, one we trusted more so than the mercurial Westbrook, and hearts broke amid the soundwaves of “Stars & Stripes Forever.” Talk is cheap. Tough lesson, but we learned it well. We’re a little less trusting now. A little more cynical. Words don’t mean that much. But Westbrook put his signature where his mouth is. The contract extension commits Westbrook to two more Thunder seasons, with his option on a third.”
Jenni Carlson: “This is a franchise that believed in Westbrook when a lot of others didn’t. It drafted him fourth overall when most people believed his value was well below that spot. It inserted him into the starting lineup as rookie, then left him there when people said there was no way he was a point guard.”
Erik Horne: “The Thunder currently has about $5.24 million in cap space. Could they get someone to come play for that number? Probably. Would it be worth weighing down its salary cap on a multiyear deal? Many of the marquee free agents were gobbled up in the period when Kevin Durant was deciding where he’d go in free agency. It’s probably not worth it for the Thunder to give a multiyear deal to the remaining free agents on the market (Ex. Dorell Wright, Lance Stephenson), especially with free agency coming up for Victor Oladipo, Steven Adams and Andre Roberson in the summer of 2017.”
