Welcome to OKCThunderGround!

This is just a first draft from me thinking of the Thunder’s time in Oklahoma City to date. I may revise this with more reflection. I put heavy emphasis on what players do in respect to their niche role on the team…and what they did individually to help the team win during the playoffs and against the better twelve or so teams in the regular season in meaningful seeding games.

Anotherwords…what did you as a player do during the goal acheiving portion of the season?

This isn’t just a reflection of me looking at stats as a generic whole. Generally…I don’t judge players by what they do against the bottom eighteen teams in the league during the marathon 82 game regular season.

And I do put a great deal of emphasis on the unique metric I created with my TSSPN metric which I share with ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins at times. BTW…my son’s Perk, the 13 year-old brown lab is still spry as a pup, and like Big Perk doing very well.

So here I go…

1 Shai (won a championship and Finals MVP)

2 KD ( didn’t win a championship in OKC or a Finals MVP here, but a very solid second for sure)

3 Russ

4 Harden

5 J-Dub

6 Nick

7 Lu Dort

8 Caruso

9 Serge

10 Chet (note to Chet…get tougher and show MJ more durability)

11 Paul George

12 Isaiah Hartenstein

Player I most hated to leave off this list? That was easy, and yet very hard for me at the same time. That player being Kenrich Williams. Every championship team needs a Kenrich Williams.

Two players I wanted to put on the list, but couldn’t because they can’t shoot a basketball…Steven Adams and Andre Roberson. Two awesome role players who just couldn’t shoot at the NBA standard. But…still had and are having nice NBA careers.

Chris Paul should probably be some kind of special category as well because if he hadn’t shined as a rookie with the New Orleans group this NBA thing in Oklahoma City may very well have never caught fire as it did. CP3 will eventually be in my Thunder Hall of Fame.

I’ll think about this first draft for a week, but probably stick very close to what I’ve done on July 12th, circa 2025.

Peace and love…here come the mid-July rains.

MJ

• I had Perk at No. 13, but in the end…. I had to go with Isaiah for three reasons: 1 Better hands, better free throw shooter, and 3 was a key missing piece on a team which won their first NBA championship.

• TSSPN = Toughness, Smarts, Snarl, Physicality, and Nasty. Pop only had TSN. So there’s that as well. MJ never remains static. Just sayin’. You gotta be fluid.

Even though the NBA season has wound down…I still have a lot of things to blog about on my blog. Such as…Joe C’s retirement as the OU athletic director after more than a quarter of a century at the helm, this interesting movie I saw titled The Friend starring Bill Murray and Naomi Watts, this interesting Serbian Nikola Topic who looks like he would be much more comfortable playing alongside fellow Serbian Nicola Jokic, and the Kevin Durant situation in Houston.

Plus, I want to at some point write something about the evolution of Sam Presti from that fateful Game 6 loss to the Warriors in 2016 to what he has evolved to as a GM since that horrific loss. I do agree with Kevin Durant in that I as well feel Sam Presti learned quite a bit about team building from that landscape changing loss to what we now see in Oklahoma City.

What I mean by that is shooting the basketball is a skill every NBA player should posess in this era of the three point shot. Plus, NBA players being able to go up to the free throwline and at the least make around 70% of their free throws and 30% of their three point attempts.

Some in the Thunder camp may want to refute me on this, but MJ feels Sam Presti took a very long look in the mirror after Paul George asked to be traded and realized moving forward he had to find honest two zone basketball players who could run, jump, defend, pass, rebound, and SHOOT THE BASKETBALL.

But for today…I just want to kick back and enjoy music by Sting and the Police. Sting was recently outside of Denver at the Red Rock venue and it broke my heart I couldn’t attend because of the difficulty that venue presents with my physical condition in that it’s a piece of work getting into the venue itself.

Maybe I can shoot for that next spring. Maybe. A golf cart would be handy.

Anyway…we also have a quick turnaround major rematch of the classic French Open Final we just witnessed at Roland Garros between No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Skinner tomorrow morning at Wimbledon starting at 4:00am CST in Oklahoma. Skinner needs to win this one to get some mojo back against Carlos. We can only hope it’s another classic. Can’t wait.

Have a beautiful Saturday in Oklahoma as the rains are supposed to reappear later today.

Ciao, MJ.

I always play this song first on my returns from Colorado because while I’m there it seems I’m always in a state of self-evaluation …and this was even before the the Stage 4 cancer diagnosis. When I’m there with my family its like this state of meditative calm overtakes me. Things just fall into place as to what’s really important in life…and what’s just extraneous bullshit.

It was a beautiful July 4th for MJ. Maybe the best one in my life to date. We did everything…. and from my point of view checked every box. The July 4th parade on the first row in Crested Debutte was highlighted by a Golden Retriever breaking loose from its group in the parade and adopting me.* The fly-by from the F-16s caught me off-guard as well. Then an off road ride on the top of the summit overlooking the valley beneath Gunnison and Crested Debutte left me breathless. We then closed off the night with a spectacular fireworks show on the campus of Western Colorado University in Gunnison.

I’ve decided this about Colorado…if I were ever to move there full-time…Gunnison is where I would want us to live. It’s me. A place for grinders and working class people who love to fish, love to hike and appreciate the beauty of nature, and don’t need the frills of the glamour spots elsewhere in the state.

We actually took an the alpine lift up to the top of Crested Debutte the next day as well. It was like touching the face of God. It was. In my previous body I could ski the blacks at places like Lake Tahoe, Taos, and Breckinridge. Now? I’m just grateful I can get on and off the lift chair in my tennis shoes with no snow on the ground.

That’s who I am. That’s why Nick Collison, Lu Dort, and Kenrich are my three favorite Thunder players of all-time. Grinders…just like me. Defense first type of guys.

This was my third 4th of July since my cancer revelation. I wasn’t supposed this live this long. But here’s the thing…you know, it’s like Dr. Showalter said to me in private, “Mike…I’m just a doctor. I’m not God. This isn’t about just what I’ve done as far as treatment with you. This is about you and how you’ve decided to live your life from this point forward. I’m proud of you.”

It’s funny…last night after watching this Serbian big cat named Nikola Topic play in a summer weague game for the Thunder…ESPN played the original Jimmy V cancer tribute.

Of course…I cried. Bigtime.

Coach V is an Italian like me and a huge disciple of Vince Lombardi…just like me as well.

His speech reminded me…that really if you do three things every day of life moving forward things will work for you in the end.

Those three things being:

1 Laugh every day.

2 Learn something new every day.

3 Cry once every day.

Mission acccomlished. I love you, Coach Jim Valvano.

My goal on this blog is to now hang around for this next NBA season to see who advances from the Western Conference next season. The East is in a complete state of shambles. Will it be Denver or OKC? Either way it goes…MJ feels as if he in his most spectacular prescient manner has hedged himself perfectly.

Kevin Durant with the Rockets…are you people kidding me? When is the last time we witnessed KD play impactful minutes in April and May? I’d ask for Dillion Brooks back. Seriously.

Life is good. It’s how you roll with the knock down punches which defines you.

Love, MJ

• We actually had a Golden Retriever named Lindy for the hockey player Eric Lindross when we were building the house out here on the mini-ranch in 2003-04. My wife’s favorite dog ever by far. Not even close.

Being I’m related to Jesse James and Italian….MJ loves his Italian food. Garlic Mike’s right on the Taylor River is where we make sure and eat every trip to Crested Butte.

I believe it was a New York family who migrated to the Gunnison area and created this incredible Italian restaurant, bar, and music venue.

I love it. It’s where MJ feels the most Italian.

Now…if some of you Trump knuckleheads here in Oklahoma want to keep on sending me these snarky messages…I’m just giving you a heads up. It needs to stop. Don’t push your luck.

Ciao, MJ

I need to come back on here this morning and finish what I started writing yesterday about the Denver Nuggets retool for the next NBA season. Executive Vice-Presidents of the Denver Nuggets, Ben Tenser and Jon Wallace (recently added from the TWolves operation), were basically just getting started on the 1-6 part of the Denver roster.

Shame on MJ, he was so excited about hitting the mountains with the ‘fam’…he wrote too quickly. This is a different kind of templet the Nuggets have put together since they fired both Mike Malone and GM Calvin Booth. Both Tenzer and Wallace will work jointly under Josh Gronke to retool the Nuggets to championship status.

Houston and Atlanta have both done some interesting things so far, but by far what the Nuggets have done tops the charts.

So ignore some of what I wrote yesterday in regards to the 8-11 portion of the Nugget roster next season.The two undrafted rookie free agents will most likely become two-way contract players, and if DeAndre Jurdan remains on the roster it will be as an emergency third center and a leadership type in the locker room.

What the Nuggets did was trade Dario Saric to Sacramento for 33 year-old center Jonas Valeniunas. What this means is Jokic will now have a legitmate backup center behind him. One who can come out on the floor and handle 12-14 minutes a game and give the team a quality backup center.

The Tenzer-Wallace combo then added another quality wing to their rotation by adding free agent Tim Hardaway Jr. into the mix. To me…Hardaway will now become the Nuggets’ version of Aaron Wiggins coming off their bench to provide instant offensive spark.

As a 38% 3-point point shooter this past season with the Pistons who averaged 11 points a game…. I would not hesitate writing I’d take Hardaway over Isaiah Joe, and on the nights when Aaron Wiggins doesn’t show up…. over Aaron as well. Aaron needs to address this part of his game…that being, becoming a dependable pro who does his job every night.

The Nuggets in my mind still have two dead weight pieces left on their roster who I would try and deal into another viable bench piece. The two dead weights I’m referring to are Vlatko Cancar and Zeke NNaji. Again, you can never have too much shooting, basketball smarts, and mental toughness on your roster.

I would look for maybe that one last bench piece. And I would also add, I love Jamal Murray, but Jamal… what we have here is a very clear message…get Nikola back to the NBA Finals. Know what I mean?

MJ

This is cool for MJ given the ‘fam’ will be in Crested Butte in a few days for the 4th of July. I saw Shai uses ‘fam’ quite a bit in his vocabulary and what’s good for Shai is good for MJ.

Finally…the Michael Porter Jr. experience is over in Denver. A parade might be in order just on that alone. I’m tired of ranting to myself about Michael Porter Jr.

So…the Nuggets in exchange for MPR get slick scoring forward Cam Johnson in return. I would assume Cam will start in MPR’s place and let’s be candid here…the defending champ OKC Thunder just droped a notch to now having the second best starting lineup in the NBA.

When one considers how much both Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun took their games this past season…I think the Nuggets now hold that edge.

So this Denver bench…the Nuggets also re-acquired 2023 clutch Sixth Man of the Year Bruce Brown on a one year deal as well. This now gives the Nuggets that consistent sixth man they’ve missed these past two seasons since the championship season. Good luck, Russell…it just didn’t work out.

This puts Peyton Watson as the 7th player as a rebounder/defense forward type. It’s time for Peyton to be the player we know he can be every game. Circle Peyton as a big key this coming season..as will be scoring guard Julian Strawther. I would hope Julian builds off that Game 6 vs. OKC when his 15 second half points were key to the Nuggets pushing that series to a Game 7.

The Nuggets also signed two interesting two-way guard types who weren’t drafted…those being Tomar Bates from Missouri and Curtis Jones from Iowa State. Both of these guys are good three point shooting types …and in this league you can never have enough shooting.

Then… I would think second year combo guard Jalen Pickett and veteran journeyman DeAndre Jordon will fill out the 1-11 portion of the Denver roster.

This will need to be a much better bench if Nicola and Co. are to beat the Thunder and win the West.

MJ and fam are off to the Rockies. Have a wonderful 4th.

Eternal love and peace, MJ.

Life is more than ironic sometimes. It truly is. I mean…five years ago, Donald Trump tried to have his own Vice-President dangled from a noose…and now, he’s the leader of the Christian right selling his own cell phone brand as POTUS 47. Go figure.

So I’m sitting here on this Monday as it’s about to rain just north of us out here on the mini-ranch at Deer Creek and trying to come to terms with what we just witnessed a week ago.

THAT BEING…the least likely franchise in the NBA just won the NBA championship in a Game 7…and this same group primarily which won’t be in the clutches of the 2nd Apron next season and will be a prohibitive Vegas favorite to repeat next season when all this starts again without Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton.

In the words of my mentor, Dan Jenkins, life its ownself can sometimes be a marvel to witness. This clearly is one of those times.

And the crazier thing is…Clay Bennett and a group of investors back in 1997 had Oklahoma City on the virtual cusp of bringing an NHL franchise to OKC. The OKC group appeared to have won the battle…then at the last minute the group from Columbus, Ohio produced a sweeter bid and in essence stole the franchise away from the Oklahoma City group.

But here’s the thing…as it turns out…. what a lucky break for Oklahoma City because no one appears to really even give a shit about hockey anymore in Oklahoma City after the AAA Edmonton experience later flopped because of a lack of ‘real hockey’ interest. Whereas… Denver lives and breathes ice hockey with the Avalanche and the the ten-time DI national champion University of Denver program

OKC as a market showed no interest whatsover in hockey where there wasn’t constant brawling and the beer wasn’t cheap. When I was a kid…there was an interest as the Boston Bruins AAA affiliate was a cool thing in Oklahoma City. But beyond that… there was never any evidence non-brawling, highly skilled hockey could sustain itself in Oklahoma. And there still isn’t.

The reason being because at the NHL level you don’t brawl all that much because if you go to the penalty box the other team’s highly skilled power play basically puts the puck in the back of the net sometime in the next two minutes of play.

So…in historical retrospect…it’s a very fortunate thing for Clay Bennett and his group that the Columbus Bluejackets are there, and the defending NBA champs…the OKC Thunder are here this Monday morning in Oklahoma.

And…if you’re in Seattle, yeah, you got f–ked. It can happen. You should have built the damn arena. But you didn’t and now you have a hockey team no one outside of Seattle will even care about two years from now. But I do think Adam Silver will bring an NBA team to Seattle one way or another.

I need to get going and go ride the bike hard in preparation for two hikes I want to do while in Crestted Butte. But before I do that…let me congratulate the Florida Panthers on their repeat Stanley Cup championship win over the Edmonton Oilers in six games.

BTW…how many of you in Oklahoma even read an Oklahoma paper or saw a newscast from Game 6. A Canadian city still hasn’t won a Stanley Cup championship since the Montreal Canadians won one in 1993. Trump may have a point about the Canadians. The Canadian cities collective performance since 1993 has been feckless and feeble even when they have the best player in the world.

Congrats…Florida Panthers. I’ll be keeping an eye on your three-peat effort next hockey season when I’m not as pre-occupied with the Thunder.

Love and eternal peace.

MJ

No matter what transpires from this moment forward….this NBA Championship can never be taken away from these young men and what they accomplished this season. They may or may not repeat…odds are they will struggle with that task.

Recent NBA history tells us from Golden State, Denver, and Boston the 2nd level of monetary hell in the luxury tax, plus injuries will at some point befall the Thunder.

This is why on my blog I constantly preached about ‘going through the window’ while it was this wide open in this particular post season. And that is precisely what these young men did, despite their head coach’s foolish decision to tamper with the starting lineup and ending lineups in these Finals. A classic example of overthink. But finally….the rotations followed the almost exact suggestions made on okcthunderground.com, and as we all see now..an NBA championship banner is hanging in Oklahoma City.

It is a beautiful, almost euphoric time for Oklahoma City. The stigma of John Steinbeck’s epic novel portraying the Joad family journey’s to California will no longer haunt at least those in Oklahoma County and Cleveland County (Norman). It has been proven in those two counties….you can win NBA and national championships on the biggest stage with the brightest lights. The other 75 counties in this state need to elevate their educational systems, move beyond the 1920’s mindset, and begin pulling their links on he collective Oklahoma chain.

So it is here…on this very nationally acclaimed underground Thunder blog…MJ suggests from this point moving forward… June 23 be named and honored as Clay Bennett Day for what we just witnessed in Oklahoma this past Monday.

And, in closing, MJ offers this rendition of the national anthem for this reason…as we all now know, the Buffalo Bills then and still now even with Josh Allen have never won that elusive first Super Bowl. They’ve never been able to get past Patrick Mahomes and crawl through that championship. Former OU quarterback… Jalen Hurts was able to….but not Josh Allen and the Bills.

OKC in MJ’s mind, is the Buffalo of the NBA…and you know…these guys now have an NBA championship in their back pockets. Pretty f–king amazing when you really consider what it takes to win either a Super Bowl or NBA championship in any city these days.

God bless Mr. Bennett, and God bless these young men. What you just did is historically significant.

MJ

It’s over.

Unless you count the White House visit with Big Orange the end of the season is here.

What a beautiful dream of a season for the Thunder players and Oklahoma City. How they both melded perfectly in unison and realized their potential. It was surreal.

And even if the Thunder happen to repeat…it will never feel this way to the fans ever again.

This was beautiful and something I’ll always treasure in that I was still around to experience watching this incredible group of players bring a championship to the ‘Little Train That Thought It Could’.

I hope to get back on here in a day or two and organize some of my closing thoughts before my family heads off to Crested Butte for the Fourth of July.

Archie Davenport, Bad Little Dude….I can’t get you out of my mind.

Who could have written that ending?

Seriously.

Eternal love.

*MJ official off season sleep music. Try it.

Mike J

On second thought this morning…I rethought the whole Alex Caruso serve and sign thing at Raisen’ Caine today. I just thought all things considered that I didn’t want to get that emotionally involved since the Thunder are really only my second favorite NBA team.

You know, like taking a dog home…when you know you really aren’t going to be able to keep it.

The whole thought of me being trapped inside of that restaurant with so many people just seemed a little overwhelming when I visualized the whole thing playing in my mind.

But I will write this though as we close down this historic and very positive week in purple Oklahoma City…I will take many positive memories with me which I will never forget as both a basketball fan and a human.

This week displayed the Oklahoma City we know the rest of the state could be. Compassionate, pragmatic, politically purple…and the kind of place a young couple could raise a family and not be overtaken by the crazies on both the far left and the far right.

But now a place with an NBA Championship on the resume as well. Denver and OKC now both have one NBA championship. Both the LA Lakers and Boston Celtics are now in varying degrees of roster freefall. Austin Reaves declined the Lakers max extension. What does that say?

The LA Clippers appear headed nowhere despite all of Steve Balmer’s abundance of NIL money. And of course…Portland and Utah are both just searching for any kind of answers to be semi-relevant.

Golden State without Giannis will not be special. If they could land him if he leaves Milwaukee…a different story perhaps. The three teams in the West the Thunder should probably be watching the closest from my view would be the Rockets now with Durant if he can stay healthy, the Dallas Mavs, and the Spurs. The NBA this coming season in Texas and Oklahoma will be something to behold. I mean…a Red River Shootout everytime one of these three teams take on the defending NBA champs from the North.

You Thunder fans…just savor this though for the time being and treasure it forever.

My Three Favorite memories from the Parade were easy: 1 10 year-old point guard Archie Davenport’s reaction to Isaiah, 2 Shai’s father’s very heartfelt comments on his dedication and love for his son, and 3 Shai, of course. It was pretty clear from watching the father and the son how mutual the love and respect each has for the other.

MJ hears the Rockies calling his name for the 4th of July week. Just think how awesome the state of Oklahoma could be in all 77 counties if we witnessed this kind of love and respect towards one another every day of the year.

Eternal peace, MJ.