Welcome to OKCThunderGround!

Heavy rains have caused us to reschedule our fishing trip to Lake Sequoyah in Arkansas. No big deal. Will try again next week if there’s a two day window.

Actually…it may be a blessing because I can now lock in on Game 6 between the Mavs and the Clippers tonight. Then focus in on Game 1 between the TWolves and defending champ Denver Nuggets.

So who I am actually rooting for at this juncture? That’s a good question.

Even though I’m very much impressed by the Thunder’s top seven players…the fact they represent the mecca of white suprememacy domestic terrorists kind of drops the Thunder out of my top four list.

Can’t do it. Especially when you consider the Thunder were ostensibly stolen from Seattle to OKC to help the city heal from the 1995 Murrah Building bombing.

I mean think about this…how dumb can you be as a community to have that incident on your resume and then endorse a grifter/domestic terrorist like Trump thirty years later by a 75% plurality.

Nope…. can’t do it. Couple the Trump domestic terrorism angle with the fact a top flight Texas high school football program wouldn’t associate themselves with Little Nick Gallo and Michael Cage… andI just can’t fake the Thunder love even though they play twenty minutes from the mini-ranch in Deer Creek. I could care less what the Jim Trabers of this world think .I’m nobody’s sycophant. Too bad Low Energy Royce Young of the once great Daily Thunder can’t make this claim.

So… probably as we stand right now with my ever changing basketball heart…I’d say my heart is leaning this way…1 Denver, 2 Minnesota, 3 NY Knicks, and 4 Dallas Mavericks.

Two shout outs before I go work out….1 Congrats to Jalen Brunson and his ‘Nova mates for advancing to the semis. The other shout is to Buddy Hield for his great game coming off the bench last night. Tough play at the end, but the Knicks were the better team and that’s just the way it goes sometimes

This song is being posted to hopefully calm down all you Trump evangelical Christian terrorists. Why the hate? You live in a country with the largest GDP and most freedom loving rights. Why the hate?

Hang loose.

MJ.

Great win for the Mavs last night in LA as it appears they will probably be Little Nick Gallo’s barking Thunder’s opponent in the Western Conference semi-finals.

Luka took the minute. Jamal took the minute. LeBron always takes the minute. Anthony Edwards takes the minute.

I mean, good…the obligatory one minute chat with a TNT or ESPN or ABC sideline reporter shouldn’t be that big of a deal. What are these guys going to do if they make the Finals….like boycott Doris Burke and tie her up?

Oklahoma…. It never ceases to amaze me. TNT and Allie must be fake news Antifa for the Thunder and their fanbase.

If the Thunder make the Finals then lose to Boston will they then insurrect the NBA’s headquarters and attempt to hang Adam Silver or go straight to MarLargo and claim the Finals were rigged and hold some bullshit replica of the O’Brien Trophy above their heads while barking.

I wonder at what point Tramel’s questions get that stare down look with a ‘next question’ reply.

Bless their hearts.

I’m outta here for two days to hit the Ozarks for two days of fishing and some amazing sunset viewing before covering the Nuggets-TWolves series.

Bless your heart, Oklahoma. Seriously…bless your hearts.

MJ

Okay…let’s go with this. I don’t think in anyway my takes on Little Nick Gallo are out of line. He’s a joke as a sports journalist. And I’m not trying to be difficult about the Allie LaForce thing the other night. He’s a joke. He’s even worse than Robert Allen roaming the Oklahoma State sidelines during O State football games….and that’s saying something.

After Jamal hit his second game winner in the SAME SERIES against the Lakers… he gratiously took the time to answer TNT’s Allie LaForce’s questions.. That’s how a real professional conducts himself.

He then showed up at the offical presser in a white T-shirt instead of opting for the Grandaddy Pimp look just to go viral. Yeah, I know…boring.

Jamal then went to great lengths to be super respectful of LeBron.

Let me go even a step further…if I were running the Thunder the first and second things I would do is ship Little Nick Gallo to the Detroit Pistons and bring in a real sports writer/media person to clean up the uber homer culture of the Thunder.

Then… the third thing I would do is ship Michael Cage to the Detroit Pistons to join Little Nick Gallo.

Maybe that’s harsh. But I mean if you look back at the ending for the Russell Westbrook/Paul George era in OKC it was a disaster because of the manner in which Little Nick Gallo coddled those two guys. To my knowledge none of that shit is repeating itself with the LA Clippers.

It’s all about culture. Not about likes on social media. If you want to be a champion and perceived as a champion….then act like a champion.

I cannot fathom in any manner how Thunder fans thought that was cool. But you know…that’s me…. Holly Hunter to the end.

ThunderChick…it was great to hear from you. I seriously mean that. I miss the fact we’re not in touch as much as we used to be. I mean that. I hope we’re friends for life. But we just see some things differently.

One of my favorite verses from the Bible which has gotten me to this point in the cancer journey is this one from Timothy II: ” I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race. I kept the faith.”

Take care, Thunder Chick.

MJ

It is truly amazing at this point. I put on my Jamal powder blue replica jersey…and we both assume super powers of sort.

Me…. I was switched from my more serious chemo drug to one much less tough on me because I appear to be a cancer survivor. It maintence at this point….mon.

My practioner told me to keep living hard and maybe I could play the Cheetah-back position for the Sooners this fall afterwards.

She says….”Keep dreaming big, Michael.”

I nodded and smiled, ” No problem…Dr. Juli.”

Jamal?

Mon….Jamal,it is as if Jamal’s super closing skills get even larger every time I wear the jersey. Like….you know there’s a spiritual connection because he knows how much I’ve suffered watching Little Nick Gallo and these Trump Proud Boy idiots in Oklahoma.

Jamal, dude…Minnesota will be tough. No doubt. But you no worry…MJ will have Jamal jersey on for every Nugget game moving forward.

Peace.

Jam…with Michael.

MJ

Oh, boy. I mean.. seriously…oh, boy.

I was just at the point I was going to ‘somewhat’ put my tail between my legs and write gushing things about them on my internationally acclaimed underground blog ( liberal democracy loving women love my blog…go figure) when the Thunder went all Knucklehead Mode after their convincing twenty point road win over the very weak New Orleans Pelicans.

I was getting ready to put my tail between my legs and admit I’ve been too hard on the Thunder. I was going to lighten up in a big, big way. I genuinely was.

Then this.

I mean…shit I don’t even think Hitler did this in Germany prior to WWII with the Nazi prooganda shit.

Good lord.

Hot TNT superbabe Allie LaForce on TNT was going nationally no to further introduce America to these dudes from OKC…when they were pulled away from her and directed over to the swarmy Thunder sychopant Little Nick Gallo as the pathetic Bally Sports group would I guess in a manner scoop TNT for the first postgame interview after the Thunder’s first playoff road since 2016.

I was stunned. I’m still stunned. How f–king stupid can these people be?

What can you say about these Trump people which I haven’t already written here on the internationally acclaimed blog?

I’m speechless. And IT TAKES A LOT TO MAKE EL PREZ SHUT THE F–K UP, but this one actually did it. I’m literally speechless.

That’s it for my recap on the Thunder’s Game 3 win at New Orleans.

Here’s the postgame interview with my MVP pick SGA and fellow Thunder space traveler….Jalen Williams.

It is what it is. Que Sera. Shit happens. Flow wit it. Be jammin’, mon. Be jammin’. You dudes may be fooling these dumb white people in Oklahoma, mon…but you not fooling Michael Jackson from John Marshall…not a chance, mon.Not a chance. It be cool.

Peace… MJ

It’s a beautiful morning here at the Deer Creek mini ranch. It’s as if an explosion of dark green foilage took place while we were in Denver. This is the only place I could live in Oklahoma County.

I’m so blessed.

We’re secluded from the realities of Oklahoma. We fell in love with this property the first time we saw it and despite the fact the HOA can’t walk and chew gum at the same time…it’s okay. It’s our little secluded world in the heart of the New Confederacy.

Everything is in full bloom right now. The daffodils, redbuds, flowering crabapples, and flowering cherry trees have given way to the peonies, iris, oakleaf hydrangeas, and lilacs. Soon the flowering crapemyrtle trees, roses, and chaste trees will follow and will be in full bloom all through the Oklahoma dog days of summer up until early October.

Something will be in a continual state of seasonal color all through the year as the red maples, oaks, paperback maple, smooth sumac and a few other support trees give a combination color splash of yellows, oranges and bright shades of red.

We did the landscape ourselves. When my wife agreed to come back from Alabama after her one semester at Auburn… I promised we’d have our own Southern estate. Kind of like what Noah (Ryan Gossling) did for Rachel McAdams in The Notebook. I kept my promise. Best choice I ever made in my life.

There’s no fence in our backyard. There’s turf which is surrounded by thick forest and Deer Creek itself winds around the outer perimeter of our property.

The natural wildlife and species of birds is unbelievable. It’s stunning. Eight wild turkeys who adopted us make sure I’ve fed them by 7:00AM every morning. The deer usually beat them by an hour… so it’s up to me to make sure their food is in its place before sunrise. There’s also the family of raccons who usually come right up to the edge of back porch about 3:00AM. My wife curses them and me for feeding them.

I smile at her and say something like, ” Sure, honey…you’re right. They’re annoying. I’ll stop feeding them.” And of course…I completely ignore her and go ahead and do exactly do what I want to do in this regard. They’re cute and btw…I’m the one who caught the outdoor lawn sofa on fire smoking a cigar on a day the winds were howling at 30 mphs. The raccons had nothing to do with that event. The racoons and I have an agreement…much like Russia and China. Deal with it, honey. Know what I mean?

Little Robert who’s in love with the place is capivated by the flora and fauna. Like Pauli… he’s drawn to the walking paths beaten down by the deer along the edge of the creek which usually is full of water except for the month of August.

Like Pauli…Litle Robert is fascinated by the forest and the allure of seeing the mountain lion and the bear I’ve told him about. His three year-old sister (Aubrey) could care less given the fact six boys are in pursuit of her in her pre-kindergarten class. She’s tough as nails and will probably either be a Classic soccer player like her mom or whatever she wants to play.

She’s the grounded one…Little Robert is more like Russell Westbrook. He’s a great athlete, but prone to mercurial outburts if things don’t go his way. I wonder where he got that from?

Anyway…I’ve made a golf hole for him where he can hit a driver from our back porch or a seven iron and depending my placement of the pin… play either an assortment of par threes, par fours, and par fives. I told him I’d like to be be his caddie some day. He replied, “Let me think that one over, Mike”

Anyway life is very good on this Saturday morning and I need to go work out before the basketball begins. Thunder play at New Orlean at 2:30pm. Okcthunderground’s best beat writer will be covering the game. I can’t wait.

Have a beautiful Saturday

Aloha.

MJ

From what I gleaned last night in LA…I would say minus Austin Reaves late in the game….the Lakers are done. As in finished except for Austin. They quit and the Denver Nuggets remain the Laker’s Daddy to an even greater scale than last season when they swept the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

A note of caution to you OKC Thunder fans who already have the young Thunder in the NBA Finals…the Nuggets are peaking just right as we hit the goal acheiving portion of the ‘real’ NBA season.

You can hand out a litany of NBA regular season awards like I did last week on my blog, but from now moving forward this is when it matters. This is when we see the real basketball souls of players and coaches alike. As in…who really wants it most, and it appears to me Denver very much wants a repeat on this group’s legacy resume.

Don’t get me wrong, I think when the Thunder keep all their white guys on the bench minus Chet they’re special. But basketball is like life in essence. That being, sometimes you need to fail and get knocked on your ass before you realize what it really takes to acheive your ultimate goal.

And in this case… that goal is simply winning the O’Brien Trophy. Nothing else matters. This is about winning from this point moving forward.

I put this video up this morning because I thout both Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter were special last night on the road. Aaron went for 29 points and 15 rebounds, while Michael hit every clutch shot while Jamal played what I would desribe as a ‘quiet’ game after Monday night’s iconic game winner in Denver.

As a fan of Western Conference basketball it would appear to me we are about to have some incredible matchups in the next round as Denver, OKC, Minnesota, and the winner of the Dallas-Clippers advance to the semi-final round. I mean…this should be must see for real NBA fans. I can’t wait. I’m now in a locked in state of mind here at the blog. Locked and loaded…so to speak. Let’s go.

If you want the white boy baby food Thunder bullshit….this ain’t the place. That place would be the Daily Thunder.

It’s supposed to rain tomorrow in Oklahoma…so I’m going go do my workout early wearing my Jamal Murray jersey and then settle for a double dip of OKC at New Orleans and Boston at Miami.

Have a phenomenal NBA Saturday as the journey continues.

MJ

It usually takes me about two days to decompress from leaving Denver of the United States of America to adjust to the Donald Trump Banana Republic of Oklahoma. So…. I’m not quite there just yet, but almost. Sunshine and good music help the transition. Both in abundance today in Deer Creek as I mentally prepare to mow the mini-ranch before the rains get here on Saturday.

I wouldn’t say Oklahoma with their book burning Secretary of Education Ryan Walters is quite there with Hitler and Himmler just yet, but he and his boy Kevin Stitt have definitely taken the state of education in Oklahoma to places even Mary Fallin could have imagined.

It is what it is though, bruhs. Deal with it.

I’m resting here at the Deer Creek mini ranch today a couple of weeks before the wife and I hit the road to the Deep South for about ten days of the Gulf coastline starting in eastern Mississippi and ending up somewhere around Clearwater. I’ve always wanted to do this. We’ve traveled pretty much all of Florida previously. This should be cool.

This is something I really wanted to do before Integris hosts a special month of of activities during National Cancer Survivors Week. I didn’t do this last year, but I think I can handle it this time. I’ve experienced a lot of human journey survival skills since then. I think I can handle this before we hit the dog days of July when we hope to hit Wyoming in July and Seattle in August.

This is something all planned out in my mind. Call it the Michael Jackson Bucket List Tour … if you know what I mean. Probably…. Mexico in September might be nice…maybe Cozumel would be nice. Their drug cartel thing isn’t a concern…my skin and my manner will keep me safe. Hell…I probably have a better chance of being shot in Oklahoma in a 7-11 parking lot by a Proud Boy or Oath Keeper as they fight to take their country back since since they’re too fucking lazy to do the hard work to live the American Dream.

Truth hurts….stupid lazy white people. I mean, I worked and paid my way thrpugh college at night school, while working harder tha an illegal immigarnt during the days. I wouldn’t write this shit if I hadn’t lived it. Lazy, momma boys people are not in my inner circle.

October…somewhere near Ashville, North Carolina. A little combination of maybe a four day modest hike somewhere and prime fall foilage observation.

November…..I’m not sure just yet. Maybe an OU road game in the SEC. If Trump wins th election then may just be what I need to get done. You know…kind of like the Von Trapp family in the Sound of Music just before they escape Austria to get to Switzerland.

December…this one might be tricky…depending on if the airports have been closed by the Trump crazies depending on how the election went. Hawaii would be nice. Cabo would be cool. Or maybe we should go back to Cozumel and see about buying a house.

I dunno know.

Anyway…nice wins for the Thunder and Tyler Herro’s Miami Heat last night.

I’ll be back tomorrow to blog about Game 3 between the defending champ Denver Nuggets and the LA Lakers.

Eternal peace.

MJ

Well…I’m back from my week in Denver and I feel completely reset and refreshed. Going from Deer Creek, Oklahoma… where there is an apartheid form of government, and then waking up in a democracy like Denver where people actually read books, go to museums, treasure all genres of music, and don’t fill themselves up with shit junk food from the nearest Taco Bell or Carl’s Jr.

I mean…literally… it’s like going from one nation to another. People in Denver don’t listen to shit from the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones, Sean Hannity or the New Confederacy’s new No. 1 fuckstick Tucker Carlson.

No …that shit isn’t in Denver. They’re an amalgam of humans more like me…a successful brown person who has lived his life somewhat well and been self accountable and responsible. Not like the fake Trump Christians I see eveywhere around me in Oklahoma. You know, the fakes who buy the Trump Bibles, buy the Trump golden sneakers, and buy the Trump Sex F–king scents for a collective $359.95 and yet don’t even know where in the Bible the Ten Commandments are located.

But enough of that. I actually got to sit on the floor for Game 2 for nothing. Unbelievable. My son got us free comped tickets from the energy company he works for in Denver and via a thank you gift/bonus for all the good things he has done for them we literally sat on the corner on the floor for free. I sat on the seat which literally led into the Laker locker room.

I hope at some point to get one of those pics on my cover page since…. I of course didn’t shame myself by having a Thunder podcast in the long run.

My son also bought me a jersey of my choice for the game as well and paid for picture perfect cold Modelos which were brought to us by a beautiful Hispanic waitress named Maria. This will not be shared with Dr. Showalter…just saying. It can’t get much better than that. I mean…at one point, I thought to myself I was knocking on the front door of Hoops Heaven.

I mean, seriously, I felt like this was God saying to me…”Mike, I’m proud of you. I like how you’ve handled this cancer deal. Is this the way you wanna go out?” No shit. It was that emotional and surreal for me.

Anyway… three days before the game my son asked, ” Which jersey do you want?”

I asked, ” Do you think it would be too audacious of me to where the replica Austin Reaves OU jersey?”

He answered,” You’re not wearing that jersey sitting next to me on the floor. Not a chance.”

So I then responded, ” Maybe an old Nugget powder blue Jamal Murray jersey would be cool.”

He said, “There you go. It’ll be here a day before the game.”

He…being an MBA grad from OU said, ” I know you love Austin Reaves like a second son, but there is just no way in hell you’re wearing that jersey in that seat for this game.”

I replied, “I’m good with it. Besides I have a feeling Jamal will do something clutch.”

So there you go.

Jamal being clutch on my last night in Denver and my ascending to Hoops Heaven much like I did in Game 6 in Oke City when Klay hit those eleven threes when I sat with my Dad on a special night which changed me forever.

Let’s go Nuggets!!!!!

MJ

This will be much tougher than the UConn Huskies’ recent repeat. This will be tough. Winning four series and sixteen games this NBA Playoff season will be tougher than last season.

But here’s what I do know…the Nuggets have the best starting five in the NBA. They have the most effective player in Jokic. They also have a special player in Jamal Murray who has proven this time of the season dosen’t faze him a bit.

Unless Oke City gets to the Western Conference Finals the Nuggets will still have homecourt in the West.

Plus…the Nuggets have Michael Malone. A coach who knows what buttons to push with his players this time of year. I think Reggie Jackson is the key. As in… can he come close to filling the great minutes Bruce Brown gave the Nuggets on their championship run.

We’re getting ready to head out to Denver and spend some time with our grandkids…Robert (4) and Aubrey (3).

Robert has a big soccer game at Washington Park on Sunday which of course I can’t wait to see in person…while Aubrey has a birthday party to attend. I’m hopeful Robert and I can go over to the public golf course over near the iconic Cherry Hills course and hit our drivers on Saturday. That could be wild.

Of course…being in a ‘real’ NBA city… I’ll be wearing my 2023 Nuggets NBA Championship or my 2022 Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup Championship ball caps all over town for the next week as the NBA playin games are taking place.

We plan on spending lots of time at Bonnie Brae Park and Washington Park running, hiking, biking, and maybe even playing some street hockey on the back patio area at the house…where of course I will be ruthless with Bad Litle Dude.

If there’s time maybe I’ll trek over to the Shoney’s Sooner Sports Bar in downtown Denver and watch one of the playin games. I may not have the energy given we might also go play some Mrs. PacMan over at the University Sports Bar & Lounge.

And of course at least one stop at the iconic Bonnie Brae Ice Cream Parlor.

I can’t wait.

You Thunder fans enjoy and appreciate what your team just did for you. Given the ‘city’ they play in…. finishing first in the West is a remarkable feat. You should just stop there and have the parade right now.

Don’t think I haven’t wondered if the Thunder do somehow win the Championship if the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and other Trump white nationlist groups would crash the parade?

I wonder if OKC can cram a million people into the streets of downtown OKC?

Enough of that.

I’m off.

Enjoy the playin games.

MJ