Daily Thunder.com

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Rex Tillerson. Jeffrey Immelt. Alan Mulally. W. James McNerny. James Skinner.

Mark Cuban. Jerry Buss. Jerry Jones. Robert Kraft. Hal Steinbrenner.

I’m guessing that, unless you’re a total business geek, you at most know only one or two of the names in the first group. But you probably know all of the names in the second group, and even non-sports fans (who at least are minimally aware of current events and have a pulse) know three or four of them.

Nonetheless, those 10 men have something in common. They’re all filthy rich. The big difference that separates the famous rich guys from the non-famous rich guys is that the famous ones own sports teams. The non-famous ones are chairmen and/or CEOs of some of the world’s biggest companies (in order, Exxon Mobil, GE, Ford, Boeing, McDonalds), each of which is worth more than every NBA franchise put together. Read more…

Commentary

Zach Lowe of SI on KD’s movie role and distractions: “Durant is obviously a gym rat, and so he is basically untouchable in this regard, even if a bit of the “He should be working on his post game!” tsk-tsking is bubbling up (see the comments section) in a few corners of the Internet. He has played this summer in just about every legitimate streetball venue; he tweets often about his practice habits; and several magazine profiles have captured his commitment to the game.”

Trey Kerby of TBJ comes up with some movie pitches for KD’s film: “Then again, I think a “He Got Game” sequel could do really well at the box office. Jesus Shuttlesworth is all grown up and starring for the Boston Celtics, but now he has to deal with his son, Moses, who is going through a recruiting battle just like Jesus did in high school. Shave that goatee and Durant looks young enough to play an 18-year-old, so that works out nicely. In the climactic one-on-one battle, Denzel Washington will show up with an even bigger Afro, and everyone will have a hearty laugh. Comic relief is important.” Read more…

Bolts

Beckley Mason for TrueHoop on the Goodman-Drew game: “As they waited for the ball to be inbounded in the third quarter of the Goodman League-Drew League contest for bicoastal streetball bragging rights, Oklahoma City Thunder teammates Kevin Durant and James Harden collided near midcourt. Durant, playing for Washington, D.C.’s Goodman team, had been jogging toward the 3-point line when Harden, representing Drew of Los Angeles, abruptly halted in front of him, sending a hard shoulder into his wiry teammate’s chest. Durant, who won the MVP award for his 44-point effort, threw a snarling forearm into Harden to create space. Undeterred, Harden shuffled forward and again leaned hard into his teammate to deny him the ball.”

Kyle Weidie for ESPN LA: “The most important controversy came courtesy of Durant’s game-winning free throws with 21.5 seconds left. The Drew League contingent, from bench to fans, were openly upset at several calls or non-calls on the night, to the point where Rawls make light of it on the microphone, effectively saying that whistles would be uniformly the opposite in Los Angeles. On the game-deciding play, Durant drove hard to the basket, and stumbled and/or got tripped up by Harden, who got called for blocking. After the buzzer sounded, Harden was still salty about the call as he made a beeline to the locker room. But if anyone might have had the most accurate, perhaps unbiased assessment, it would be Marques Johnson, host of the game for thebasketballchannel.net and one-time star of Los Angeles’ Crenshaw High and UCLA.” Read more…

Bolts

That’s not the movie, but I’m pretty sure it should be.

When most players say that they are exploring their options during this lockout, they mean they’re looking at playing overseas. Kevin Durant ‘s doing that too — reportedly — but he’s also evidently exploring another option: the silver screen.

According to the Oklahoman, Durant is set to “star in a major Warner Bros. film” that will either be filmed in Oklahoma City or Baton Rouge. The film is said to have a “basketball subplot” doesn’t have a name yet but is supposed to go into production in mid-September. You know, right around when training camp would be starting.

I’m sure this movie isn’t actually a lockout contingency plan for Durant but there’s no doubt that a work stoppage would assist in helping him get his part done. I bet it would be tough to squeeze in shooting between back-to-backs against the Bucks and Grizzlies.

But this is just another stamp on Durant’s move to go from small market basketball superstar into a globally branded megastar. He’s already taken big steps toward that as his appearances in China have been massive, he was second in All-Star votes in the West behind Kobe and he’s got massive ad deals with giants like Nike, EA Sports and Gatorade. A movie doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to jump past LeBron or Kobe, but it’s an obvious sign that you’re not limited just because you’re in a small market. Read more…

Commentary, News

Saturday’s Goodman vs. Drew League game pretty much came down to the Thunder. It was Kevin Durant against James Harden with Durant’s Goodman League trailing by a point as the final seconds ticked off.

Durant attacked his bearded Thunder buddy with one of his favorite moves — light jog up the court, subtle hesitation dribble with a quick change of pace going hard with his strong hand. KD uses it a lot and it’s really effective. Problem against Harden was though, he’s seen it a ton. And he was entirely ready for it.

Harden slid right over on Durant and attempted to take a charge. KD said block. Harden said charge. But the important third party was Marques Johnson, the referee on that side. He said block and so KD went to the line and sunk two free throw to ice it for the Goodman. Read more…

Commentary, Video

Nick from Euroleague Adventures joins the guys from TGR to preview the upcoming tournament of REAL BASKETBALL.

Brad and Joel also cover some of the offseason/lockout events relating to the Thunder.

Download, listen and comment.

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Podcast

The Goodman League topped the Drew League 135-134 in the highly anticipated pro-am showdown in Washington D.C. Saturday night. It came down to a controversial block/charge call that sent Kevin Durant to the free throw line where he calmly sank both to put the Goodman up one. Brandon Jennings missed a jumper with a few seconds left and Durant blocked James Harden’s follow-up to seal the win.

Harden wasn’t psyched about it after the game tweeting, “LoL did we get cheated??” KD responded, “NOOOO dont be like that…we gonna come to LA and get no calls so i dont matter.” Harden said, “hahha me and u both know that was a charge!” And then KD said, “U was moving and u flopped…it was all fun man don’t be on that…” And then they made a joke about it being just like training camp and the Broingtons were all best friends again. Or something.

All in all, a pretty fun night of pickup hoops during a time where any basketball at all is like manna from heaven.

And as you might expect, there were a bunch of quality plays. I mean, how could there not be in a game that featured Durant, Harden, Jennings, John Wall, Tyreke Evans, JaVale McGee, DeMar DeRozan and a couple streetball legends? But it mostly KD. Oh sweet goodness, KD.

Commentary, Video

Who: Goodman League vs. Drew League
Where: Trinity College, Washington D.C.
Time: 5:30 p.m. CT
Where to watch: Right here (stream costs $4.99)

GOODMAN ROSTER: Kevin Durant, John Wall, Ty Lawson, Gary Neal, Tyreke Evans, Michael Beasley, DeMarcus Cousins, Josh Selby, Sam Young, Donte Greene and from the And1 Tour Hugh Jones, Emmanuel Jones and Warren Jefferson.

DREW ROSTER: James Harden, DeMar DeRozan, Nick Young, Dorrell Wright, Brandon Jennings, JaVale McGee, Craig Smith, Pooh Jeter, Bobby Brown (Aris BC), Marcus Williams, Kobe (maybe), Doug Thomas,

Preview

Good Saturday masses. Thank you for your support of DT. I’m counting to five and this lockout better be over.

KD’s 66 at Rucker has become something that has magically joined the early pages of his developing legacy. The way he walked onto the world’s most famous blacktop and lit it up with 66 points that included dropping five straight 3s, the last one coming from like 35 feet and stopping the game, pretty much blew everyone away. I don’t know if the 66 at Rucker will be something that in 15 years we’ll look back on and use when talking about KD’s greatness, but it certainly was a serious moment. The only reason I have a feeling it’ll be overlooked is because we’ll have 20 or 30 better moments to talk about. But for now, the Rucker 66 is pretty special.

Video

Maybe this one is a little better or the panda picture, but it’s hard to top the picture that KD tweeted today while he was biking around Washington D.C.

Other

Perk plead not guilty to his Texas charges: “Oklahoma City Thunder starting center Kendrick Perkins pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct and is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 30. According to documents released to The Associated Press on Thursday after an open records request, Perkins entered his plea by mail through attorney Langston Adams. He was arrested just after 2 a.m. Saturday in Beaumont, Texas, where an event for his charitable foundation was being held.”

Henry Abbott of TrueHoop on the league’s best finishers at the rim: “For instance, you can look up Kevin Durant, and then see how he finishes at the rim, from three to nine feet, from ten to fifteen feet, from fifteen to 23 feet, and from 3-point land. That can quickly get interesting. If you looked up that particular thing, for instance, you’d notice that Durant made 217 of his 281 attempts at the rim last season, for a mighty 77 percent. That seems high, right? How high?” Read more…

Bolts

Yeah, yeah, these games aren’t going to happen, but here you go anyway: The Thunder’s 2011 preseason schedule. It’s not like these things really mattered anyway. (All times Central.)

Oct. 12: at Utah, 8:00 p.m.
Oct. 14: vs. Charlotte, 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 16: at Dallas, 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 17: vs. New Orleans (in Wichita), 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 21: vs. Denver (in Tulsa), 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 25: at Phoenix, 5:00 p.m.
Oct. 27: vs. San Antonio, 7:00 p.m.

The Thunder is set to open the regular season on the road Nov. 1 in Los Angeles against the Lakers.

News

A report says Daequan Cook is being pursued by a Spanish team. Of course he’s a restricted free agent but the Thunder did extend him a qualifying offer. The Spanish team evidently wants him for the entire season with no NBA opt-out.

Trey Kerby of TBJ lists 10 frontcourt players on the verge: “Ibaka is straight-up shredded and seems to be made of only muscle. Kudos. One thing that’s undeniable about Serge is his ability to reject opposing players. In a mere 27 minutes per game last season, Ibaka led the league in total blocks (198) and finished third in blocks per game (2.4). He’s simply a machine, and when he gets starter minutes he’ll be the most intimidating post defender not named Dwight Howard.” Read more…

Bolts

Kevin Durant’s got some options right now. His agent recently said the Thunder superstar was exploring situations in Spain, Turkey and Russia.

Well, the Russia thing just got a bit more interesting. Because we have an offer. According to Championat.com, via HoopsHype, Russian superpower CSKA Moscow is in talks with Durant’s representation for a deal worth around $1 million per month. Not too bad.

If you recall, Kobe’s reported offer from China is for something like $1.5 million. So Durant obviously is carrying a similar global reputation. Deron Williams’ Turkish deal was only for $250,000 a month. Take that, Zach Lowe. (Only kidding.) Read more…

News

Ronald Martinez/NBAE/Getty Images

I had this in today’s Bolts, but I feel like both sides of the story need to be heard. We already know what police are saying and we know about Kendrick Perkins’ initial denial. But more information and details are surfacing.

Really for Perk, his weekend arrest really didn’t carry much of any punishment. It was just a misdemeanor charge, he got out on $150 bail and with a little community service, I’m sure he’ll be able to move past whatever happened at a bar in his hometown of Beaumont, TX.

But Perk sees the punishment of public perception and embarrassment as too much to ignore. Which is why he’s going on the offensive.

Again, Tuesday he denied claims made by police after his arrest for public intoxication. Through a lawyer’s statement, Perkins claims he was actually injured during whatever happened and even considered a police brutality complaint. And now, there’s more. Via the Oklahoman, a publicist for Perkins says he was only having water at the bar and there are witnesses to verify it.

“Although these may be misdemeanors, it’s a big deal to Kendrick,” said Denise White, his publicist. “He’s not happy about how things happened that evening and feels like the police were out of hand … He was not drinking alcohol, nor was he intoxicated. Not one drop of alcohol Friday night. We’re not sure why they said Kendrick was intoxicated. There are witnesses inside the club that will attest to Kendrick only drinking water that evening.”

How can we be sure about this? We can’t, because evidently police did not administer a breathalyzer or take a blood test. And if you’ve ever heard Perk talk, it might be kind of difficult to tell if he’s been drinking or not. That slow Texas drawl makes it sound like he’s slurring everything. I mean, doesn’t it seem a bit strange that he was arrested for public intoxication and they didn’t actually prove he was intoxicated? Does to me. Read more…

Commentary, News