Wednesday Bolts – 7.21.10
Kevin Durant brings us one of life’s great questions: “Getting a massage..I’m face down and I gotta fart…what shuld I do?”
Sam Presti on how to withstand the turnover that’s happening in the organization: “The most important thing is that the organization maintains its identity and culture,” said Presti. “None of us are greater than the organization or its core values, and we try to consistently add and develop people that will create some organizational endurance if we lose some people through the process. There will be times of change in this business because things often run in cycles, but a sustainable team also has a sustainable mentality.”
A quick interview with Jeff Green from Team USA’s practice yesterday.
Chris Silva writes that KD is Team USA’s leader, but Durant still wants the focus on the team: “To finally wear his USA jersey in international competition and help the U.S. win its first world title since 1994 is a humbling experience for the Thunder forward. When told that head coach Mike Krzyzewski said he was the only lock to make this summer’s roster, Durant looked to the ground almost out of embarrassment, gave a sheepish grin and said he indeed hoped to make the team. USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo said Durant deserves to be treated as a focal point of this year’s team. But Durant took the same team-first approach he has always taken in Oklahoma City.”
Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! on KD’s role for Team USA: “There is nothing Durant faced in high school, with the Texas Longhorns in college or in his first three seasons with the Thunder that’s placed more pressure on him than wearing a USA jersey this summer. So far, the only thing anyone has questioned about Durant’s game is his ability to win big. Delivering a gold medal in the world championships would go a long way toward putting those concerns to rest. And if the U.S. needs a last-second shot or big offensive spark in Turkey? The ball will probably be in Durant’s hands.”
A biplane crash landed by the Thunder’s practice facility last night. Nobody was hurt.
Rich Cho wasn’t part of the group that showed up at KD’s door at 11:01: “Rich Cho wasn’t in the Oklahoma City Thunder party that went to Kevin Durant’s house at 11:01 p.m. on June 30 to kick off the team’s efforts to sign Durant to an extension. The clock on the window for Durant and other 2007 draft picks to negotiate extensions started then, and the Thunder weren’t about to waste any time. “I wasn’t there that night, but I had done a lot of work on that deal,” Cho told me Monday after he was introduced as the Blazers’ ninth general manager.”
