On to the Rumblings:
Dom Flaim of WTLC on how the Thunder players live the Thunder way: “By now, we’ve all seen the social media comments made by our departed number 35, a player who inhabited the Thunder home locker room for 9 years and then left in 2016. Recently, #35 decided to comment via his main Twitter account (and not on the ghost account he thought he was using) that his past Thunder teammates just weren’t up to snuff.”
Cole Cashwell, the truth exposer: “Cole Cashwell, 16, tweeted at Durant’s @KDTrey5 handle Sunday evening, saying “man I respect the hell outta you but give me one legitimate reason for leaving okc other than getting a championship.” Cashwell on Thursday said he sent the message with the mindset “what’s the worst that could happen?” He said he was shocked and “didn’t understand why he would respond to me.”
Russell Westbrook was named the 7th most fit athlete (???? Nick Young puzzled look gif ????) by Sports Illustrated: “Russ joins four other NBA players on the list: Blake Griffin (46), Kawhi Leonard (35), Hassan Whiteside (30) and LeBron James (2). It’s important to note that the criteria was more than just pure athletic ability. They factored not only performance in their sport, but the training methods and overall longevity of the athlete.”
Kevin Garnett was asked what player reminds him of himself: “Well when I watch Westbrook’s energy it reminds of the energy I thought I played with until I saw him play. Westbrook’s energy is remarkable,” Garnett said. “When I watch him I’m still in awe. If I was to say that someone, in how they approach the game, I approached the game very similar to how I see Russell approach the game. He doesn’t do a lot handshakes, he’s very focused, he’s to himself, he does his own thing. I was pretty much a little bit like that.”
Paul George is soooo ready for this season.
Steven Adams comes in at No. 14 in the 25 under 25 list from FanSided: “It’s a commonly held belief that post players mature at a slower clip than other prospects, and this was certainly true about Adams: “I think it’s because I just haven’t adapted to the American-style of basketball. I feel kind of foreign,” he said following the double-double he posted that snowy Saturday afternoon. Adams’ comfort level took some time to reach that of his NBA contemporaries, but now heading into his fifth year in the league — all spent with Oklahoma City — the 23 year old has transformed into an interior cornerstone, an up-and-coming big man perfectly suited for the brand of post play that has consumed the NBA.”
And the clapping back continues: “Kanter was doing an autograph signing in Oklahoma City when one young fan approached him with a basketball and T-shirt to sign. After asking Kanter if he would be so kind as to sign his stuff, he thanked Kanter for “being so aggressive to Kevin Durant.”
Fred Katz (Norman Transcript) on the added three-point shooting and how that will change the team: “The changes won’t turn the Thunder into the Golden State Warriors or Houston Rockets. But they will certainly lift them from the bottom of the NBA. “It will help with the spacing a lot,” Thunder forward Jerami Grant, who shot a career-best 38 percent from 3 last season, said. “[George] and Russ, they definitely cause a lot of attention, so there will be a lot of open shots for other guys on the court.”
Brett Dawson (NewsOK) on defining the role for key reserves: “This week, McDermott dialed that back a bit. He feels valued, he said. His 3-point shooting helps draw defenses and space the floor, particularly when he’s on the court with Russell Westbrook. “And now that we added (Paul George), I think it’ll be probably more important, because we’ve got a lot of talent out there,” McDermott said. “ I look forward to doing that, to spacing the floor, but also showing that I can do more than that.”
Now That's Thunder Basketball 