It’s Time To Play

With the NBA lockout over, loud city is ready to “Thunder Up” again.  On Saturday the owners and players association came to a tentative agreement to end the 149 day lockout.    The season would most likely start on Christmas day which would shorten the season to a 66 day schedule.  However, the Thunders first game would not be until December 26th when they travel to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves.  The Thunder has an exciting season to look forward too, after making it the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks last year. When the news broke of the potential agreement, almost all of the Thunder players made sure to tweet about it.  Kevin Durant’s tweet, which was also shown all over ESPN quickly became a fan favorite when he said,  “If this is true I am Bouta go wake my mom n grandma up and put on a suit and thunder hat and cry! Please be true #nbaback.”  It was also quite clear that Russel Westbrook and Eric Maynor were happy when they said: Eric Maynor “I’m in a great mood…….” and Russell Westbrook “Well well well…..”  James Harden, was a little bit more enthusiastic when he said, “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. I feel like I just got drafted again.” It’s apparent that the Thunder team is ready to play again, especially with their superstar Kevin Durant being the unofficial spokesperson for Nike’s “Basketball Never Stops.”   While some of the team had been busy practicing here until the lockout was over, other Thunder players like Serge Ibaka and Thabo Sefolosha had been busy playing overseas in the European leagues. Thabo tweeted, “Glad to hear the lockout is almost over! Excited to come back to@okcthunder // thankful to @Fenerbahce! #ThankUTurkey #NBAisBack.”  One thing is for sure, their excitement of the season beginning soon will hopefully lead to another successful and progressive season for the Thunder as they continue to grow.

Passing Time By Playing Other Games

       Who would have ever thought that one simple tweet could turn into a night of fun and games with a professional NBA player.  Earlier this week, a student at Oklahoma State University responded to a tweet of Kevin Durant’s, informing him that he and his frat brothers had a flag football game later that night.  For that lucky college student and fraternity, Kevin Durant decided to join his flag football team. Durant, surprsingly did well and had a wonderful time, according to his twitter account and sources who were in attendance.

       This sparked a response from Kevin Durant’s good friend and NBA player Lebron James who tweeted him, challenging him to a flag football game.  Team Durant VS. Team James.  With games canceled through the end of November, the NBA players are trying to find anyway to keep in shape.  The players are also making sure to host their charity games as a way to be interactive with fans as well.  One thing is for sure, you can tell who really cares about saving the season and making sure to keep their fans, as opposed who doesn’t.  Fortunatley, for the people in Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant does.

 

Is There Anything Durant Can’t Do?

Everyone knows that Kevin Durant is a tremendous basketball player.  He’s one of the most down to earth players and a great role model for kids to look up to.  He’s one of the most fan friendly in basketball and enjoys giving back to a community that he has grown to love so much.  This off season, Durant has traveled across the country playing in his friends charity games, as well as hosting basketball camps.  This Sunday, he and Blake Griffin are holding their own to benefit charities of their choices.  Team Durant VS. Team Griffin will be sure to draw a great crowd and provide Oklahoma City with a great atmosphere once again.

His movie filming is well underway, and now Kevin has something else he can add to his lengthy resume, rapper.  This past Friday night, Durant and Westbrook both held an event in LA to promote their friend Privaledge’s career.  No one expected Durant to grab the night and start rapping as well.  Although he studied music producing in college while he attended the University of Texas, he surprised everyone with how good he was at rapping his own lyrics.  The club promoter captured it put it on youtube for everyone to see, take a look for yourself.  He could have another shining career one day.

Where Are They Now?

WIth a potential lockout looming, the players of the Oklahoma City Thunder are wasting no time keeping in shape, furthering their education, and even filming movies.  Russell Westbrook, the star point guard has returned to school at UCLA during the summer to continue pursuing his degree.  At the same time, Russell continues to work out with some of his close friends and family.  On Wednesdays, Russell spends a significant amount of time interacting with his fans to support his #whynot cause.

Kevin Durant has been doing it all.  From playing in the Melo league games where he scored a high of 66 points at Rucker Park, to filming his first movie–which is about basketball of course.  At the same time, Durant has been filming workout videos which he posts on his twitter, youtube and website kevindurant35.com.  Here are the links to his two 35th hour episodes.  All the while making sure to stay in touch with his teammates and interacting with his fans.

Serge Ibake, otherwise known as Air Congo or Serge Iblaka, has been busy playing overseas.  He also stared in a music video recently.  Eric Maynor has also been busy practicing with his friends and traveling around with other Thunder players James Harden and Russell Westbrook.  James Harden has also continued to practice with his friends as well.  James Harden was most recently back at Arizona State University to support his Sun Devils against Missouri for the Blackout game.

And of course the Thunder players have continued to be the close knit family that they always have been: keeping in touch via twitter and taking vacations together.  One thing is for sure, when the season does start, they won’t be lacking team chemistry.

A Lifelong Fans First Game

My friend Lilly and I recently took our friend Sumner to his first Cardinals game.  Sumner, who was born and raised in Arizona, had never been to a Cardinals game before.  He recently transferred to the University of Texas and made a trip back to visit my friend and I.  Needless to say, we had an amazing time.  We were able to get tickets 3 rows up from the 25-yard-line behind the Cardinals bench.  Fortunately, I was also able to see one of my favorite players who was drafted to the Cardinals this year, Patrick Peterson.  The game against San Diego may have only been a preseason game but it was filled with memories to be cherished for a lifetime.

Finally Made It!!

The Rookie

All Time Great

Extra Point

Players Look On

One of the Good Guys

With the NBA lockout looming, players are doing anything they can to keep in shape and make sure they don’t lose any edge in their game.  Just ask Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder how important it has been that he plays in the Melo League this summer.   Most recently, he played against Lebron James and his Thunder teammate James Harden.  During that game Durant scored 56 points and previously he scored 66 points at Rucker Park.  Kevin Durant is arguably one of the best players in the NBA today, if not the best.  Aside from the explosiveness that he shows off in every single game, he has stepped into an amazing leadership role in which he lead the Thunder to the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. He is without a doubt an even better person.  Thats why fans enjoy going out to see him play.  That same passion that he brings to the court every single day, he also uses to make sure his fans know just how much they mean to him.  When Kevin Durant runs up the court to make a slam dunk, its not just the play that the fans are cheering for, or the fact that he’s exciting and explosive to watch, its how Durant took the time out of his day to say “hi” to a little boy or take a picture with girl who’s dreamed of meeting him.  ESPN’s John Converse Townsend wrote a great article on how Durant has been the most thrilling player of the summer league.  I believe it compliments everything I have been talking about:  http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/31785/what-did-kevin-durant-do  Hopefully, fans will start to cheer for the players who aren’t greedy, which are few and far between.  Durant being one of them,