Monday Bolts: 9.18.17

The Thunder officially unveiled the “Statement” alternate uniform: “Innovation in design and a bold look make up the third Oklahoma City Thunder uniform unveiled for the 2017-18 season. On Friday, Nike and the Thunder released the full design for the Statement edition, which – like the Icon and Association editions – is built on innovation and technological research that have keyed into the needs of the athlete.”

Kevin Durant accidentally bashed the Thunder organization on Twitter: “Okay, so one of two things happened here. Either Durant was feeling particularly feisty and wanted to tweet at a hater in the third person, or, as @harrisonmc15 theorizes, he was attempting to use a spoof account to defend his honor and forgot to log out of his main account before tweeting.”

James Dator (SB Nation) on KD potentially using a fake Instagram account to argue: “The account is private, but it’s followed by numerous NBA players, Durant’s stylist and Big Sean — well known friend of Durant. There are other hints too that this is really the hidden Instagram account of the Warriors’ star.”

Erik Horne on Steven Adams having more money, more problems: “Adams doesn’t seem bothered by the expectations of being a $100 million dollar man in the middle of the Thunder’s starting lineup, but Year 5 for him in Oklahoma City will have a different feel. “There’s much bigger things we have to do and worry about other than ‘oh I’m getting paid this much, I have to shoot this much,’ or whatever it is,” Adams said when asked if his increased salary factors into his personal expectations. “Everyone’s goal is the main goal. You have to make any sort of sacrifice, anything you have to do for the team. I might be wrong, mate, but that’s pretty much my mindset.”

B/R ranks OKC’s Westbrook/Roberson backcourt as the fifth best in the NBA: “Russell Westbrook, the league’s reigning MVP who’s now providing an encore to a season in which he averaged a triple-double, is quite good at the whole basketball thing… Thanks to his extreme athleticism, long arms, film-junkie habits and willingness to execute a game plan, Roberson became arguably the league’s best perimeter defender during his most recent season with the Thunder.”

Fred Katz on the importance of OKC’s unofficial workouts: “These NBA involuntary workouts aren’t the same. Coaches are there. Players are around. People may call them “involuntary,” but they are without a doubt necessary. And the Thunder’s are mostly indistinguishable from the workouts you’d see if you walked into training camp… It’s not like the Thunder start these workouts just when they return to Okahoma, either. Twice over the summer they got together in Los Angeles, a Thunder tradition which started in the days of Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka and has continued into the era of solo-Westbrook.”

Russell Westbrook posing with Canelo Alvarez after this weekend’s Canelo/GGG boxing match

A new podcast from Jon Hamm, Fred Katz, Andrew Schlecht and Royce Young: “It will be a weekly show with Fred Katz, Jon Hamm, Andrew Schlecht and regular contributors like Royce Young of ESPN. Our goal is to give you an entertaining insight into one of the most interesting teams in the NBA, the Oklahoma City Thunder.”

Paul George discusses the new uniforms, next season, and winning MVP: