Thursday Bolts – 9.29.11
A big happy birthday to KD who turns 23 today. For your birthday KD, I’m trying to get you an NBA season. I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but I asked Papa Stern real nice like.
Daequan Cook really wants to stay in OKC: “I’ve always loved this city, the fan base and all their support of the players. … “No matter what happens, I’m attached to Oklahoma. Oklahoma is great for me.”
Nazr Mohammed has a new website.
Charley Rosen for HoopsHype on OKC in a shortened season: “The team that would benefit the most from a compacted schedule is the Oklahoma City Thunder. The young legs of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ikaba would remain spry even if they had to play five or six games every week. In fact, if the upcoming regular season only lasts 50 games, the Thunder would be the favorites to succeed the Mavs as NBA champs.”
Randy Hill of Fox Sports on how a new salary system could affect OKC: “Anyway, nobody knows where the cap will sit when the league reconvenes or how close the contracts of Durant, Kendrick Perkins and their playmates will push OKC to its limit. But Thunder fans, assuming they don’t mind watching Russell attack defenses like a paint-ball warrior in a Red Bull fit, can exhale knowing Westbrook will be (technically speaking) affordable.”
KD tweeted he was getting a little tired of Pro-Am games. Darnell Mayberry explores why: “At some point over the last three months, some games stopped being played for genuine reasons. It stopped being about the love and started being about the money. Somewhere along the line, a few savvy promoters saw a means to make a buck. As a result, some exhibitions stopped focusing as much on fans and charities and instead sought to fatten a few pockets.”
The San Antonio Express wonders about OKC working out with Tim Duncan: “With many of Duncan’s teammates scattered all over the world, does Spurs Nation believe the team is falling behind younger hungry teammates like Oklahoma City and Memphis who are extensively working together during the lockout while the Spurs aren’t?”