Thursday Bolts – 9.3.09
Kevin Durant from Hong Kong: “Everytime sum1 ask me who i play for and i say Oklahoma city they say “if u work 
hard, maybe u will be a pro” Nobody knows about us yet..YET.”
Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul all donated autographed jerseys to an Ebay auction benefitting the family of Tracy Brogdon, a friend of Nick Collison that passed away in a car accident last July. (Paul’s jersey, Durant’s jersey, Wade’s jersey.)
Empty the Bench grades OKC’s logo: “Yet another team whose logo is their name and a basketball. Many of those other teams (Knicks, Lakers, Clippers, etc.) received a C for their logo because they at least kept it simple and didn’t add crap to it. Well here’s one that added crap to such a bland, basic concept. The OKC font is awkward. There are a blue and orange marking (eyelashes? grains of rice?) in the background.”
Chris Thomasson of Fanhouse says the Nuggets are interested in Desmond Mason: “I think he’d bring a lot to the Nuggets. He’s played for George [Karl] before, which is a big bonus,” Montgomery said of Mason playing for the Nuggets coach when both were with Milwaukee in 2002-03. “Absolutely [Mason is] interested.”
A year ago today the Thunder unveiled its name, logo and colors. Chris Silva revisits the event.
That reminds me of this detailed breakdown of the logo from last year.
Chris Sheridan with a great breakdown of the Rubio situation: ”Don’t expect to see Ricky Rubio playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves — or any other NBA team — in the summer of 2011, two years from now. The opinion here is that it’ll be three years before Rubio leaves FC Barcelona, and there are millions upon millions of rea$on$ why this theory holds water. Here’s the main thing: money. It’s always about the money, and the monetary benefits of Rubio’s playing three more years in Spain instead of two are astronomical.”
Blake Griffin has always said he wanted to host Saturday Night Live. And if this interview with Peter Mehlman is any indication, he could probably do quite well. (via Clips Nation)
Some really great bar graphs showing team production and how much comes from specific players and groups. (h/t Alex)
Nick Collison: “If i had a handlebar moustache then cut off the top leaving the sides and called the look the “absolute value stache” would it be cool?” He’s back babeee!
NBA TV and NBA.com will provide coverage of the 2009 Hall of Fame ceremonies. The 2009 class includes Michael Jordan, David Robinson, John Stockton, Jerry Sloan and C. Vivian Stringer; TNT analyst Doug Collins and New York Post writer Peter Vecsey will be recognized with the prestigious Curt Gowdy Media Awards, while Johnny “Red” Kerr will be honored posthumously with the John Bunn Award, the Hall’s highest honor other than enshrinement. I don’t have a link for this because it was just a press release I got.
How big of a Thunder fan are you? Big enough to watch Kevin Durant talk into a camera and dance for an hour?
hate to admit it but the thunders have little to no love in HK.
i am probably the only one who actually follows this team from Day 1.
which is really sad….
At first, I thought you meant that KD danced for an hour on camera.
Oh well.
I think Nick Collison has to sport that facial hair now. It would be unfair to his fans not to.
I would imagine the only teams that have significant support abroad are the Lakers, Cavaliers, and Rockets. And you can subtract the Cavs from that list if LeBrickashaw leaves.
Bill Simmons goes to Vegas.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090903
@Rhett
The part about the loss of “Hef Card” made me laugh out loud.
@Rhett
Just finished reading that. Say what you will about Simmons, but the dude writes enjoyable stuff.
I meant “Hef Chip”…
If you go to canishoopus there’s a link to a radio interview between Simmons and their version of Traber (except normal) talking about Rubio…They all think Simmons got owned, but they are kidding themselves, esp after Chris Sheridan’s article on ESPN today…the interview and that article are both worth checking out.
@Alex
Just listened to the audio and now I couldn’t be more thankful that Simmons won’t go on air with Traber. He demolished him so bad I cringed.
Edit: Simmons being the first pronoun in that last sentence :p
Enough with the Blake Griffin love affair. I thought this was a Thunder blog. Not all of your readers are from Oklahoma.
The “Hef chip” and sneazing on the dealer. Greatness.
“Hef chip feels like having a threesome.”
Since Simmons has such a man-crush on KD I think he’ll be mentioning the Thunder plenty this season.
@Shane
Hmm… I haven’t posted anything about Blake in four months. And a LOT of the readers are from Oklahoma and more than anything, the daily bolts sometimes just highlight interesting things throughout the NBA. That video was unique and was linked on multiple sites.
I thought there was a connection because he’s from Oklahoma and plus, it was funny.
Hey Royce, I really want to thank you for that video of Blake Griffin. It is great to see him in a different light so to speak.
Keep up with the Griffin stuff. Everybody in the NBA is interested, and not just us Oklahomans.
Love the Blake Griffin video. Outstanding. Keep it up please.
Anyone else think it is interesting (maybe coincidental) that on the bar graph, almost everyone that had more red than blue (the bad way = more possessions than points) aren’t on the team anymore? The only person who is still is Russ, and I think being a rookie PG has something to do with that:
Earl, wilcox, desmond, wilkins, malik, petro, chucky, all had more possessions than points, thus bringing our offense down… and now all gone…
I like the Griffin video. And I’m impressed; the dude manages to be actually pretty funny and charismatic–that’s definitely a side of him that I’ve hardly seen (even as an avid fan of Sooner hoops).
Cool stuff.
@Kyle
I didn’t notice that the people that are point/possession negative are gone, but I sure as heck noticed that our second highest usage person (Westbrook) has a very poor points produced.
touches > points = bad.
@Kyle
That was an astute observation. It’s like your photo was helping you channel your inner Presti.
I’m a thunder fan from Hong Kong!Look forward to durant’s coming
For the record, I live in HK and I know who Kevin Durant is. The rest of HK may not know who is, but I have feeling they’re gonna this season. OKC are the team to watch!!
Been following along on here for a while now. Royce you are the man!
Blake Griffin is hilarious. Thanks for the vid. Ive been watching him since high school. Hilarious and Hard working.
P.S. Can’t wait to watch KD and crew take it to Blake and the Clips!