My Oklahoma City Thunder
What is, what was, and what could have been
The day finally arrived. July 4, 2016. A day that will live in infamy. I was in the Hamptons, hoping to catch a sight of my favorite player in the league: Kevin Durant/KD/EasyMoneySniper/Slim Reaper/KDTrey5/Durantula. I woke up confidently at 11:30 knowing that “The Decision 2.0” was merely minutes away. Everyone had just gone out for the day, leaving me alone with my TV, ESPN, cereal, and a bottle of 1893 Veuve Clicquot, because how else do you celebrate the re-signing of your franchise player, your favorite athlete, your role model. He was my password, wallpaper, phone case, favorite jersey, sneaker, and shorts (which I had purchased that weekend to wear while I drank my champagne shirtless on the beach. How do you celebrate?). The man was my everything. Then, it happened.
I guess I’ll start from the beginning. It all began when I was in the 7th grade and the only sport I cared about was baseball. One day, I overheard a group of my friends discussing a brand new NBA franchise: The Thunder. I thought to myself, “Woah, that’s a cool name, I’m going to look them up when I get home.” I got home, popped a squat at the family Dell desktop and began the google search that changed my life. To give you a sense of how innocent I was, I actually googled “Thunder” and found this (which, as I now know, is not Thunder) (Also, if you search “Thunder” today, you’ll find this):
When I finally found what I was looking for, I saw their horrific record of 23 wins and 59 losses, but I thought to myself, “Damn that’s a cool name, I’ll stick it out.” The 2009–10 season finally came around. I had purchased NBA Live 09 for my Nintendo Wii from my local Circuit City to familiarize myself more with the NBA and its players. (Boy, if only this were a Thursday).
Their miraculous season of 50–32 in which they were named “Breakout Team of the Year” and earned the 8th seed in the Western Conference, ended in the first round of playoffs at the hands of the Prime-Kobe-led Lakers. However, in my mind this was just the first step. Scott Brooks won Coach of the Year and Durant was snubbed for MVP despite averaging over 30 points per game. Kevin Durant, along with Westbrook, Ibaka and Harden took the defending champs almost to the brink. They lost in 6 on a heartbreaking tip-in by Pau Gasol. The future was bright, to say the least.
Surprisingly, none of my friends bashed me for being a Thunder fan. Nobody called me a “bandwagoner,” or a “winner-picker.” My fandom was honest.
Leading up to the 2010–11 season I managed to convince my next-door neighbor (AKA — brother-from-another-mother) that he hop off the Dwight Howard bandwagon and join me in rooting for the next big team. He did just that and chose the right season to hop on because the 10–11 season was a wild ride. They stormed (pun intended, thought about this one for a while) their way to a 55–27 record, the 4-seed, and fought their way through a tough Grizzlies squad that had already beaten the 1st-seeded Spurs. In the next round they played the eventual-champion Mavs, winning only one game, but that one game changed my basketball fandom forever. Durant beat Peja Stojakovic off the dribble, drove to the basket, leaped, and cocked his arm back. To me, still an innocent youngling, it seemed impossible. I thought he’d get fouled and knock down the free-throws and the game would continue as it had before. NO. That is certainly not what happened. What happened next was nothing short of a miracle. How a 21 year-old bag of bones went up against a 260, 7-foot beast of a man, I will never know, but certainly won’t forget.
As everyone remembers, the 2011–2012 season was a short one because of the lockout, but I will remember it for a different reason. They started off 5–0 and Durant knocked down some of my favorite game winners of all time. In the fourth game of the season they played the Dallas Mavericks. The Thunder were down 1 after Vince Carter hit a three, but with 1.4 second left the improbable happened. James Harden set a pick on Durant’s man (Shawn Marion), he went around it and got an open spot that was at least 3 feet away from the three point line. BANG, he sank a gorgeous shot as the clock expired. All I remember next was having chills go through my body and screaming “OMG” like a thousand times.
They finished the season 47–19 and earned the second seed. What changed the team that season were two moves. The first was when they traded Jeff Green and Nenad Kristic’ (who I hated with a passion) for Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson. When the trade first happened, I didn’t like it. Green was a great player and they traded him for Perkins who was an untalented f**k who could barely move because he was so god damn slow. It wasn’t until later that I realized that his job was merely to serve as a veteran presence and enforcer for a young team that was severely lacking in those departments. The second transaction was the signing of Derek Fisher. He was another amazing leader for this young Thunder team. In the first round the Thunder avenged last season’s embarrassment by sweeping the Mavs. One of my favorite plays of all time came the first game of that series when Durant hit another game winning one-handed shot over Shawn Marion. In the second round they avenged themselves once again by defeating the Lakers, the team they had lost to in 2010. The conference finals against the San Antonio Spurs will always be my favorite series EVER. After starting off the series down 2–0 the Thunder came back and won 4 straight games to defeat them and went on to the Finals where they would play the Miami Heat and their Big Three. The Thunder won the first game and I had hopes that they could actually win the whole thing. But they went on to lose the next 4 to give LeBron his first ring. This would be the last time watching Westbrook, Durant and Harden play together. I blame the Thunder’s loss on the old finals system of 2–3–2. The Miami Heat only had to beat the Thunder once in OKC and then got to play in Miami for three straight games, all of which they won.
Then, the unthinkable happened. It was right before the 2012–2013 season and I got a text from a friend saying that James Harden was traded to the Houston Rockets. I didn’t believe him. I thought there was no way the Thunder would be stupid enough to trade their third best player. Shortly after, I got a notification from ESPN informing me that Harden was traded along with Daequan Cook, Cole Aldridge, and Lazar Hayward for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, two 1st round draft picks, and a 2nd round round draft pick. Later it was reported that he was traded because he wanted a $60 million extension. The Thunder offered him between $54–$56 million because they didn’t have the money after signing Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka to major contract extensions (though each of them did opt to take slightly less money in an effort to retain James Harden). After going through 3 days of depression, I calmed down, realizing that our two pillars, Durant and Westbrook, were still with us.
In the 2012–2013 NBA season the Thunder had the best record in the West, going 60–22. This was an amazing season for them and I had the feeling this would be the season they could finally get over the hump and win a championship. In the first round they played James Harden’s Houston Rockets. The first game was a blowout but the second game…
Another nightmare. Russell Westbrook called a timeout and the piece of sh*t of a human being Patrick Beverley decided to make a dirty play. He went to steal the ball after Westbrook had clearly called the timeout. He went straight into him and they banged knees. I don’t remember much after that as it was a complete blur. Westbrook ended up coming back into the game and finished with 29 points in 37 minutes. The next morning I got a notification that made me drop my phone and nearly reduced me to tears. “ Russell Westbrook out for the playoffs with a torn meniscus.” That killed me. I knew from that moment on that it was all over. Even though Durant is amazing, he had never played without Westbrook and we didn’t have Harden anymore. The Thunder ended up winning in 6 but I could see that the season wasn’t going to end the way I had hoped. In the second round they played the Memphis Grizzlies. They gave me some false hope by taking Game 1 but then the Grizzlies extinguished any remainder of that childish naïveté by sweeping the next 4 games. Because of that motherf**ker Patrick Beverley the Thunder were robbed of probably their best chance to win the title. I will never forgive him and hate him FOREVER!
Because of the trade that sent Harden to the Rockets, the Thunder had a lottery pick (via the Toronto Raptors) in the 2013 NBA Draft. I was understandably hyped because Sam Presti had an established record of being an incredible drafter. If you follow the NBA you’ll recall that the 2013 draft class was historically weak and that the Cavs picking Anthony Bennett first overall was a surprise to everyone watching, especially Bill Simmons. While the draft was going on, my friend and I were crossing our fingers hoping for Michael Carter-Williams to fall to the Thunder, but fortunately for us, the 76ers took him with at 11. When 12th pick came we had no clue who Presti would take. David Stern came out and announced that the Oklahoma City Thunder had selected Steven Adams. I had absolutely no idea who he was, even KD was confused, but I was satisfied with the pick because I knew that the Thunder needed another center now that Kendrick Perkins was on his way out of the league. My friend, on the other hand, did not like the pick. Adams hadn’t played for a great college and when we saw the picture of him sticking his tongue out at the camera he decided that there was no way he was going to pan out. Seeing him this angry made me laugh, but I told him to just wait and see (I guess you could say I was the original “Trust(er) (of) the Process”).
I wasn’t expecting much at the start of the 2013–14 season because Westbrook was still out for the first two weeks. Man, was I wrong. In the first game of the season against the Utah Jazz, Durant went off for 42 points. The Thunder then lost the next game to a terrible Minnesota Timberwolves team. Luckily KD and the Thunder would not be stopped. Soon after, a report came out saying Westbrook would be returning. This was the first time I realized that Westbrook was more than just the Robin to Durant’s Batman, that he was an incredible player with an insatiable drive to win. When he returned the Thunder went on a 4 game win streak. Then an 8 game win streak. Then a 9 game win streak.
Of course it couldn’t last. On Christmas Day, the Thunder played the New York Knicks and destroyed them 123–94. Westbrook had a triple-double, Durant scored 29 and Ibaka had 24. After the game I got a notification saying Westbrook was going to have another right knee surgery. Only the Thunder, just when everything seemed like it was going in our favor something else had to happen. With Westbrook out of the lineup the Thunder were shaky and inconsistent. To my surprise, Durant went OFF in January. The man averaged 35.9 points per game while scoring 30 or more points in 12 straight games. He led them to a 10 game win streak! From then on, everyone said that it was Durant’s team and that he could lead a team himself. Westbrook came back on February 20th but was under a minute restriction and he wasn’t allowed to play back-to-back games. The Thunder finished off the season 59–23. Durant won MVP and he was officially the best player in the league. Durant gave one of the best MVP speeches of all time (even though it was made into 1000 memes) and almost brought me to tears when he said “Mom, you the real MVP!”
That year’s playoffs were definitely the craziest that the Thunder have ever played. In the first round they played the Memphis Grizzlies and like always, they were a tough team to eliminate. 4 of the 7 games that were played went into overtime. Durant really struggled the first 5 games of the series. The one play I remember came in Game 2 when Durant converted a 4 point play to send the game into overtime. I went berserk had already decided that the game was over but Durant would have none of it. Sadly, they ended up losing 111–105 in overtime. I know I keep saying this, but I will NEVER forget that shot.
It doesn’t end there! In Game 3, Russell Westbrook hit an and-one 3 which also sent the game into overtime.
At that point I thought the Thunder were the luckiest team in the league. Once again they lost in overtime, 98–95. The Thunder were down 3–2 and I was losing hope. Another miracle happened. Durant caught fire in Game 6 and scored 36 in the 104–84 win. In that game Zach Randolph punched then-rookie Steven Adams in the face and like a boss Steven Adams was unfazed. The punch led to a Randolph game 7 suspension. The Thunder then cruised in Game 7, winning 120–109.
The Conference Semis against the Clippers was just as crazy as the previous series. In the first game they destroyed the Thunder 122–105, but the Thunder won the next 2 games and took a 2–1 lead. In game 4 the Thunder had a 22 point lead it seemed like they were about to cruise to a 3–1 lead (yikes). With 6 minutes left in the game the Clippers made one of the best comebacks in playoffs history and beat the Thunder 101–99. All I remember was screaming at the tv and throwing anything near me across the room. In Game 4 the Thunder came back by making their own historic comeback and defeating the Clippers 105–104. The Thunder were down 7 with 49.2 seconds left in the game, and I kept thinking the series was over because they were about to go down 3–2 heading into LA for Game 6. Lesson learned: Never count out Durant and Westbrook.
They were unleashed. Durant hit a 3 with 43.7 seconds left on the clock to bring the Thunder within 4. After stopping the Clippers on defense, Westbrook threw a gorgeous lead-pass to Durant who capped it off with a gorgeous euro-step layup to bring them within 2 points with 17.9 seconds left. Westbrook then stole the inbound pass to Chris Paul and the ball landed in Reggie Jackson’s hands. He went up for a layup but lost it. Fortunately the Thunder retained possession. At this point I was jumping up and down screaming at Jackson for not passing to an open Westbrook. Westbrook got the inbound pass and got fouled by Chris Paul on a chuck-three with 6.4 seconds remaining. Westbrook, being extremely clutch, hit all three free throws to give the Thunder a 1 point lead. The Clippers tried to inbound to Chris Paul and get one final shot but Ibaka came up with a clutch steal to seal it for the Thunder. Following that game they took all their momentum to LA and beat the Clippers 104–98 to win the series.
After watching those two series, I thought there was no way we weren’t going to win this year but… misfortune struck again, right at the most inopportune moment. Serge Ibaka went down with a calf injury and was most likely out for the series against the San Antonio Spurs. Ibaka was the Thunder’s main defensive presence and the reason they managed to beat the Spurs two years prior. Without him the Thunder fell into an 0–2 hole. Somehow Ibaka came back for Game 3 and the Thunder rattled off two straight wins, bringing back memories of when the Thunder came back from a 0–2 deficit two years ago to win the series. After losing Game 5, we were down 3–2 going into Game 6 in OKC. I was following it on my phone because I was in a car with my family, constantly cursing like a crazy person. I finally got home and made it just in time for overtime. I knocked on my next-door neighbor’s door and we watched Tim Duncan beat our team in overtime. We were so depressed. As therapy, we printed out a picture of the Spurs big 3 and started shooting it with a BB gun. After we were satisfied, we signed the picture, wrote the date on it, and hung it up on his wall promising to never take it down until the Thunder won a championship.
The 2014–2015 season was obviously not my favorite, but it was in this season that Beastbrook was born. Prior to the start of the season it was announced that Durant suffered a Jones Fracture (broken bone in the foot) and was going to be out 6–8 weeks (he ended up missing the first 17 games of the season). To make matters worse, in the first game of the season, Westbrook broke a bone in his hand and was out the next 14 games. With both of their superstars out they started the season 4–12. Westbrook returned November 28th and put up 32 points, 8 assists, and 7 boards. Durant returned the next game and the duo helped them win 7 straight games to bring the Thunder into playoff contention. By mid-January, Westbrook had 9 triple-doubles on the season, it was completely unheard of! The Thunder’s season ended on February 6th against the New Orleans Pelicans. Anthony Davis hit a game-winning 3. On February 22nd it was announced that Durant was going to need another surgery on his foot and was going to be out for the season. That didn’t stop Westbrook from having one of the best months in NBA History. He averaged 31.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and 10.3 assists per game in February. By mid March, Westbrook had 6 triple-doubles in 8 games, but it was for naught. The Thunder had the same record as the Pelicans and since they had beaten us in the season series they won the tie-breaker and took the playoff spot. By the end of the season, people started calling the Thunder Westbrook’s team. NBA fans were divided between Russ and KD in a way that the world had not seen since Jacob and Edward.
The 2015–2016 season was historic but a pain. There were non-stop rumors about Durant. He pushed the buzz away and played his game. Westbrook continued his triple-double tear, finishing the season with 18 (tying Magic Johnson) while Durant continued to dominate the league on all levels. The Thunder finished the season 55–27 as the 3rd seed in the West. Despite this strong showing, most people counted them out because of the historic seasons of the Warriors (73–9) and the Spurs (67–15). In the first round they played the Dallas Mavericks and destroyed them 4–1. My favorite moment of that series was when Mark Cuban, the Mavericks owner, said Durant was the only superstar on the Thunder, insinuating that Westbrook was just his sidekick. Durant did what any good teammate would do and stood up for Russ, calling Cuban an idiot. When Durant said that, I had no doubt about his upcoming free agency. I really believed he was staying.
In the Conference Semis they played the powerhouse San Antonio Spurs. The Thunder went on to prove their doubters wrong and beat the Spurs in 6. Westbrook and Adams were unbelievable in that series, they came through when Ibaka and Durant were struggling. The team was peaking at just the right time and I was confident that they could beat anyone.
Their Conference Finals matchup with the Warriors, the best regular-season team of all time was terrible. The Thunder took Game 1, giving me hope, but then they got destroyed in Game 2, leaving me unsure of what to expect. If the Thunder could just win one game on the road they could set up a Game 6-clincher at home. The Thunder went on to win the next 2 games with ease. They were up 3–1 ( :( ) , a lead that only 8 teams had ever blown in the Conference Finals. Well, add the Thunder to the history books and make that 9 because the Thunder managed to blow the series too. Game 6 was both Durant’s fault and an act of the Lord. Durant couldn’t hit his shots. He shot an abysmal 10–31 and Klay Thompson was on FIRE. He was a force of nature and the Thunder had no answer for him. I was so depressed. I almost cried because I knew at that moment it was all over. There was no chance they would defeat the Warriors in game 7 at Oracle Arena. Not only had Klay brought his team back from the brink, he single-handedly destroyed all the Thunder’s momentum in that series. They lost Game 7 96–88. Even after the series I had no doubt that Durant would stay. The Thunder had just proven that they could beat anybody. Only an act of God had prevented them from making it to the Finals. I was confident that 2016–17 was the year that the Thunder would finally put it together and bring a championship to OKC.
It’s June 23rd 2016, the day of the NBA draft, and I get a notification saying the Thunder were looking to trade Ibaka that night. I was honestly alright with this rumor. Ibaka was in an obvious decline and had played so badly in the 2015–2016 season and playoffs. They ended up trading Ibaka to the Magic for Victor Oladipo, Ersan İlyasova and the draft rights to Domantas Sabonis (who was chosen 11th overall). Following the trade, Durant was asked to give his thoughts on the move and he responded with this:
“It’s a good move. I like Oladipo. He’s a good buddy, a friend of mine, and I’m definitely going to miss playing with Serge. He contributed so much to our organization and to the city, and he’s a pioneer for what he’s done for us and it’s always going to be remembered in OKC what he’s done for the community and his hard work on the court, so we wish him the best.”
I took this as confirmation that he was staying with the Thunder! He said “our organization”, “us”, and “we”! You don’t say that unless you consider yourself a part of the organization!
I was wrong…
“Kevin Durant is going to the Golden State Warriors.” My mouth dropped. I screamed and threw my phone across the room (don’t worry, I had a life-proof Kevin Durant case). I couldn’t believe it. It was unfathomable. I heard a knock on my door. It was my friend just staring at me, saying nothing. After 10 minutes of silence he suggested that we go to the beach and meet up with some friends to get my mind off what happened. While walking toward my friends I just stopped and sat down in the sand. I stared out into the ocean questioning reality itself. I asked myself “Is this real life?” “Did this actually happen?” Sadly, yes.
We are now midway through the 2016–2017 season and Westbrook has led us to a 31–23 record with 26 triple-doubles. He’s currently AVERAGING a triple-double! His stats are 30.9 PPG (1st in the league), 10.2 APG (3rd in the league), and 10.5 RPG (12th in the league). When the Thunder played the Warriors the first time, I yelled at the tv and Durant, but by the second game I had mixed feelings of depression, anger, and forgiveness. My roommate and I noted how surreal it was to see Durant not wearing the white and orange, leading the Thunder against the unbeatable juggernaut Warriors.
The Thunder are playing the Warriors tomorrow night at 8:30 at home. I don’t even know how I’m going to react. I want to respect Durant for everything that he did for the franchise, but I just don’t know if I can do that. He gave up a team and city that loved him to join an already stacked roster. Who does that? (And on the 4th of July!! Really?! Dick.)
When people talk about what we could have had with Durant, Westbrook, Harden, and Ibaka, I try to ignore them. There is no point of dwelling on what could and should have been. Yes, those four players are amazing, but would Harden be the same player competing with Russ for the MVP if he was still coming off the bench for the Thunder? Could the Thunder have won it if Westbrook and Durant didn’t get injured? Who knows? All OKC fans know is what we have now: a devoted, loyal, unstoppable man that plays his heart out every night to make the little nowhere town of Oklahoma City relevant in a league filled with billionaire owners, star-studded rosters and glamorous cities. That’s good enough for me.
