Author: Mike

I don’t know. If I were a black stud athlete like either Russ or Paul George—-I’m not sure I could play in Oklahoma knowing Caligula carried the state by seventy per cent or so. Yeah, the fans are loyal, but it’s a state where you still kind of get the feeling Dwight D Eisenhower is the president.

I’m just saying if I were a young black man I don’t know why I would want to stay in such a politically regressed state. I mean, for crying our loud, these people re-elected Mary Fallin–so you kind of get the litmus test there.

If Durant had just come out and said, “I can’t play here anymore because of Fallin and Trump,” I would have had some empathy for him.

But at the end of the day–it’s about winning. If Russell can morph his game just a bit and allow Paul George to become a serious MVP candidate while the Thunder get to the Western Conference Finals—then I think there’s chance he stays a while.

I love the part in this video where the dude evokes the name of Reggie Jackson as to prove Russell’s shortcomings. Game 6 and those last four minutes sent Kevin Durant to the Warriors. It’s about winning.

Chris Broussard is probably my favorite NBA talking head. So here’s this.

Without Nick Collison, Thunder basketball wouldn’t feel right for me. Sam Presti made some great moves this summer and made another one this week when he signed Nick Collison to come back for another year. Granted, Nick only played in twenty games last season and only averaged 6.4 minutes a game, but what Nick brings for me at least is knowing the Thunder’s fifth big is one of the smartest, toughest basketball players I’ve ever seen. Plus, he’s one of the best passers I’ve ever seen in a big player. He knows the game.

To me, Nick Collison is Thunder basketball. Period.

With Steven, Patrick, Enes, and Jerami in front of him–minutes will be tough to come by for Nick, but what a nice luxury it is for Billy Donovan to have a guy like Nick Collison there for him when the need arises.

Collison has always been my favorite Thunder player both on and off the court. His volunteer work with kids at the Children’s Hospital is notorious. His interviews are more like coaching primers than player-speak. I’m fully hoping Nick Collison stays with the Thunder organization after his playing days are over.

But I agree with Nick. I think he still has something left in the tank for a role which doesn’t demand wear on his body every game.

Pretty close to a perfect summer for Sam Presti.

Well, at least his mother laughed. Peyton knows though. He never left the Colts just because he had struggles with the Patriots. It might have appeared too loaded with Brady and Manning on the same team. Manning just finally beat them in an AFC Championship Game and won the first of his two Super Bowls.

I did this seventeen years ago and became an Independent–so I know exactly what he’s feeling except I don’t have a nationally acclaimed morning talk show with Mika sitting next to me. I’m a Morning Joe regular and pretty much watch the show religiously.

Is there a Republican senator out there somewhere lurking with a set of balls, some gumption, and some genuine concern for choosing country over party still remains the question of the day.

We’ll see.

Unbelievable. On a sweltering July day, hundreds line the fence line at Will Rogers Airport in OKC. Absolutely crazy.

It’s what makes Oklahoma City the Mystery, Alaska of the NBA. The fans are incredible. I love going to the games. They’re good fans. They could be the best in the NBA. Smart crowds usually, which is somewhat odd considering how dumb the state is politically. I’ll keep to my pledge and not go any further and call Trump the douchebag piece of shit he truly is.

Lee Jenkins from S.I. with Dan Patrick on the Paul George trade.

With Caligula driving such a hard bargain on Putin, I need two videos on this Sunday. I think I love watching women sing almost more than anything besides food and sports.

When I leave to move to Toronto, I picture it this way. Me sitting at an outdoor café along the streets of downtown Toronto as Diana sings this to me as we share a pitcher of mimosas.

LET’S GO RAPTORS!

My feelings on Donald Trump haven’t changed one iota. I believe him to be a corrupt, callous, insensitive, pathological lying douchebag. But here’s the thing. He won the Electoral College.

So, instead of me going into Keith Olberman-like rants every time Caligula Lite infuriates me, instead I’m going to pause and think of something which gives me joy, pleases me, or makes me laugh.

So instead of ranting every day, what I think I’ll do every Sunday morning is play the song My Favorite Things then promote something which gives me a good feeling or makes me laugh.

First, the song.

My favorite movie scene from 2016.

Fairly simple job description. Come in and give Billy Donovan around 14-16 minutes of functional point guard play when Russell Westbrook needs a blow. Westbrook hovered around 36 minutes a game this past season. It was an all too familiar sight seeing Westbrook take a seat with the Thunder leading, only to return to the floor with the Thunder trailing at around the 8:00 mark.

Donovan might even be able to double dip Felton with Westbrook and come up with some occasional sets with both of them on the floor. But Felton’s main job is to improve this Thunder bench. To penetrate with either a run to the rim or a kick out to Abrines, McDermott, or Grant. Or if this roster stays this way go with some pick and roll action with Kanter.

Bottom line, OKC’s bench has to be much better this season and probably will determine how far this team can go.