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I was wrong. The Warriors actually trailed the Clippers by thirteen points in the fourth period before their comeback. So…I wanted to correct that on my content excellent, traffic not so excellent NBA geopolitical, Oklahoma City cultural blog.

There’s always been this narrative in Oklahoma City that if Kevin Durant had stayed after the meltdown to the Warriors in 2016 after the 3-1 series blown lead…that Al Horford would have joined former college coach Billy Donovan the next season in OKC.

Of course…we know how that went. Both Draymond and Jerry West lured Kevin away because both correctly told Kevin he’d never win a single NBA championship with the mecurial Russell Westbrook as his point guard.

And as we all know, both Draymond and Jerry West were spot on. Kevin then went on to win back to back Finals MVPs for the Warriors while Russell proved Jerry West totally prescient by never getting to another conference finals depite playing with Paul George, James Harden again, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, James Harden again, Kawhi Leonard, and Nikola Jokic. Damn…Russ that’s just about every single generational player from this generation!

So why the f–k are these dumbass Thunder fans still booing Kevin is my rhetorical observation circa 2026?

And btw…I now know I can say f–k whenever the heck I feel the notion given Dimwit POTUS 47’s Easter message to the Christian world. I told you people…it only means Forced Unlawful Carnal Knowledge of which Dimwit POTUS 47 is an authority on the subject.

But enough of that… at least we know the Strait of Hormus is at a peaceful standstill now as opposed to the completely free and unencumbered passsage it was before Benjamin Netanyahu became POTUS 48 without an election even taking place.

But back to the trivia question… Did Al Horford ever play for the Oklahoma City Thunder?

And the answer is… yes.

During the Thunder’s miserable tanking season of 2020-21 when the Thunder went 22-50, Big Al Horford played in 28 games in OKC before leaving for the Boston Celtics where he went on to win an NBA championship to go along with his two NCAA ‘ships he won with Billy Donovan at Florida.

Al Horford’s numbers in those 28 games were 14.2 ppg, 6.7 rbpg, and 3.4 astpg.

So…if the Warriors can get past Phoenix on Friday night it would be a homecoming of sort for Al Horford.

That’s it for me today.

Eternal love as always,

Mike J

Like everyone else who loves the NBA Playoffs… I’m just chillin’ and taking in the NBA Play-In Tournament on Prime. All four of the first round games in the tournament have been excellent with very competitive games mixed with controversy and then a touch of Steph Curry Magic to close out the first round.

Okay…so I hope I have this right…Philly will be our No. 7 seed in the East and will take on Boston without Joel Embiid. Charlotte which should have had LaMelo Ball ejected with a Flagrant 2 vs. the Miami Heat will need to beat the Orlando Magic to play the 60-win Detroit Pistons.

As far as the Ball deal where his cheap play removed Miam’s best player Bam Adebayo from the game in the first half…it sucks for NBA fans. Because Spoelstra’s team would have added some interest perhaps to the East where a Detroit vs. Miami first round matchup could have been insightful to see how legit the Pistons will be in the upcoming days and weeks.

But it is what it is…although it’s unfathomable to me given how much time NBA refs waste with frivolous reviews that this crew DID NOT REVIEW THIS PLAY.

So now it’s Orlando vs.Charlotte for the right to play Cade Cunningham and the Pistons.

Portland somewhat surprised Phoenix and will now face the Spurs in the first round. Golden State came back from a 12-point fourth quarter deficit to beat the Clippers and advance to a winner take all game versus the Suns in Phoenix.

I know Steve Ballmer has more money than any human would ever need, but damn it would suck to be the owner of the LA Clippers. They always find a way to lose even with new players like Darius Garland and Ben Mathurin.

Kawhi has one year remaing on his deal so maybe with those three guys the Clippers can end the Steve Ballmer curse and do something of tangible consequence next season. So when you’re praying for our broken country…pray for the cursed LA Clippers as well. That 4th quarter up close of him late was brutal…like something you’d see from Suzie Wiles after a late night of Donald Trump social posting.

Given the way Steph, Draymond, Porzingus, Santos, Melton, and the ageless Al Horton performed in the fourth quarter…I would have say I’m picking the Warriors to win at Phoenix and punch their ticket for the right to play the defending champ Oklahoma City Thunder.

I’m not in any way going to think about an OKC-Golden State possible matchup until I see the Warriors win at Phoenix though.

I actually like the Play-In Tournament because it gives teams a chance for redemption if they were ravaged by injury in the regular season to get into the playoffs with two wins. And that premise is squarely in play for Steph, Draymond, and Porzingus as they rest in preparation for their game in Phoenix on Friday night which will be must see NBA Prime television.

In closing, having written all the above..I still only have six teams in my mind who can win the NBA Championship once we get down to sixteen teams. My top six goes in this order…1 OKC Thunder, 2 Denver Nuggets, 3 Boston Celtics, 4 San Antonio Spurs, 5 New York Knicks, and 6 the Detroit Pistons. My No. 7 wildcard is Minnesota. Can Anthony Edwards finally do it and figure some things out?

Me having the Spurs at No. 4 is something I’ll probably twist with a bit. We’ll see how it goes given it’s the first time in the playoffs for these youthful Spurs.

Hope you’re luvin’ the NBA post-season life ballin’ on Prime like Mikey J. is doing.

Eternal love,

MJ

What a great Sunday of golf at Augusta! This final round had about everything any golfing fan could want minus a Scottie Sheffler victory rally coming down the stretch.

I write that because I believe Scottie is the most popular golfer in the USA, while at time it seems to me Rory has taken some flack which to me is absurd.

Both of these guys are generationally GREAT golfers. Both minus injury will leave iconic legacies behind them. Rory in fact, was my father’s favorite golfer and I’m sure Dad has a smile on his face and a little extra bounce in his step this morning.

It appeared Rory had this Masters locked up after thirty-six holes when he birdied six of his last seven holes coming the stretch of the back nine. Rory had a six shot lead with a score of -12 after thirty-six holes.

Meanwhile…Trump’s personal LIV toadie Bryson DeChambleau tripled bogied his 36th hole to prematurely end his week-end missing the cut at +7. Not a great week-end for the Divine Pussy Grabber, as his Saudi tour boy embarassingly missed the cut and Pope Leo dissed him again and droped DPG dead in his tracks as far as approval ratings go.

Pope Leo > DVG…not even close.

But…to Rory’s credit after blowing his historic six shot lead after thirty-six holes in the third round…he steadied himself on Sunday with what I thought was some very smart golf minus his errant tee shot on the 18th which caused him to bogey the 72nd hole and only beat Scottie by one shot instead of two.

None of my young guys who I looked for to make a run in this Masters did much. Matthew Fitzpatrick, Goddrerup, and Viktor just never got going. It can happen. But on the other hand…Cam Young and Sam Burns seriously contended at times on Sunday and one would think both will eventually win a major.

Justin Rose…bless his heart. There he was again coming down the back nine on Sunday at Augusta with a reasonable chance to win, but he then missed two short you gotta make putts and once again came up short in his quest for a Green Jacket. I mean… I just wanted to reach into my flatscreen and give him a consolation hug for his dogged determination to win this tournament. Don’t give up, Justin.

So with Rory’s repeat he notched his 6th major title in his storied career to date and is the only golfer this season now with any chance to win a very improbable one season grand slam. Plus, Rory becomes only the fourth golfer in Masters history to repeat along with Jack, Nick Faldo, and the continually troubled Tiger Woods.

Dan Jenkins, buddy…I know you’re up there looking down on me this Monday morning. That’s the best I can do because No One measured up to you as far as golf scribes go. No one. I hope you’re well and maybe you could give a shout-out to my Dad.

Above…one of my favorite scenes from Dan’s iconic Dead Solid Perfect.

I’ll need to write about the Denver Nuggets surprising win over the Spurs yesterday in San Antonio some time either this evening or tomorrow.

God bless and congrats, Rory.

Mike J

Unless the Denver Nuggets can go into San Antonio and win their last game of the season last night’s B League 127-107 win over the OKC Thunder probably won’t mean much other than the Nuggets will have homecourt vs. the Houstons Rockets in the 4-5 matchup in the Western Conference Playoffs.

Amazingly…the LA Lakers have won their last two games and close with tanking Utah on Sunday. Unless the Nuggets can win at San Antonio or even try to win…they’ll end up in a tie with the Lakers. And double amazingly…back win the Lakers were healthy and the Nuggets weren’t LA won that series 2-1.

The Nuggets head to head this season versus the Rockets is 2-1. So…maybe, just maybe this will all workout with the four best rosters still available advancing to the Western Conference semi-finals. On my sheet right now after Denver’s 11th straight win last night my Western Conference most dangerous teams goes in this order…1 OKC Thunder, 2 Denver Nuggets, 3 San Antonio Spurs, and 4 Minnesota Timberwolves.

I know I’m giving Minnesota a bit of break, but they have been to the Western Conference Finals the two previous seasons and they still have a lineup with the addition of Ayo Dosunmu which would make me nervous as an opposing coach if Anthony Edwards can just grow up and become the player he should already be.

If you put Shai’s head and heart on top of Anthony’s body you’d have something even scarier than the now two-time MVP.

Just saying.

I love Shai’s outfit. What I wore at the destination wedding rehearsal dinner in Scottsdale was similar down to the gold chain. John Marshall boys wear gold chains too.

Like I’ve said on the blog before numerous times…you’ll never read me dogging Shai, Lu Dort, or Kenrich on my blog. I will not do that.

Congratulations on another great season, Shai. Dude…you carried these guys…literally. It’s time now for JDub, Chet, and Caruso to reciprocate.

In closing…I’m especially in a state of eternal calm as my recent blood lab frm Wednesday came back with a PSA of .055…the lowest yet in the Stage 4 journey. Trust me…going from 1,212 to .055 has been a journey.

With the grace of God, family, and friends, plus Dr Show and Dr. Lam….it worked out. I need a workout song for early Saturday morning. Don’t ever give up. Ever.

Love, Mike J

Well…it seems fitting that in an NBA season marked by historic DNPs the Thunder will sit Shai and nine other players tonight in Denver. The Thunder have the overall No. 1 seed in the bag and I’m to guess as well Shai probably has done enough to repeat as the regular season MVP.

Denver is precariously sitting in the No. 3 position with but a one game lead over both Houston and the LA Lakers. Looking at the standings in the West I would think the Nuggets would very much like to avoid dropping to No. 4 with the possibility of having to play the Thunder in the second round.

I have no idea how David Adelman and the Nuggets will play this tonight in regards to Jokic and Jamal Murray playing in this game. I woud guess Aaron Gordon for certain is a load management DNP.

To me…it would seem obvious they should play to simply hold onto that very tangible goal of No. 3 to avoid the Thunder for a round. If that’s not a tangible thing at all…then why would you have to date gone pretty much all in with the two Nugget stars and just shoot for the No. 6 seed where the grossly disappointing Minnesota TWolves now reside.

It’s all good for the Thunder right now, like the Iranians with the Strait or Hormuz..it’s the Thunder with all of the leverage over the rest of the league.

What a bummer…another possible marquee NBA game wiped off the slate this season.

I guess I’ll just chill and watch the second round of the Masters tonight on ESPN. That is one thing about golfers…it’s very rare we witness much load management. You have to give these guys credit that given all the torque they put on their spinal cord.

I wonder how many DNPs Chet would have as a PGA golfer?

Take care.

Love, Mike J

I have a busy day. A workout. A discussion with the Oklahoma State Tax Commision on why they misplaced some docments on our return…sigh. Some finish-up limb hauling which needs to be placed in a creative manner out here on the mini-ranch given our still in place burn ban.

But most important of all it’s the week of The Masters at Augusta National which for me is a semi-spiritual rite of spring given that like Dan Jenkins, the only other two golf tournaments I watch are the U.S. Open and the British Open.

I have my own official Masters ball cap which was thoughtfully given to me by Craig Humpreys and Brad and Irma Lund right before my retirement. I save it in a place of reverance and bring it out one week every spring.

Given… I haven’t watched a single round of golf so far this season my take on handicapping this event means absoutely nothing. But from my blind, gut feel position these are the three guys I’m hoping all play well this week and make a run for the Green Jacket:

1 Matthew Fitzpatrick

2 Chris Godderup (OU)

3 Viktor Hovland ( O State)

Two other guys my gut feel tells me to keep an eye on beyond Scottie Sheffler and Tommy Fleetwood would be Bryson D. I’m keeping an eye on Bryson D in that it just seems like the point in his career he might win it all at Augusta National.

That’s it for me today. I need to go have this conversation in person at the state tax commission and hold my comments to myself on how I feel about the goverance of the state of Oklahoma.

Trump’s Dashboard this morning shows WTC back on the rise just under a hundred and the Dow just slightly down in that it doesn’t appear one single shipping vessel is actually moving through the Straight of Hormuz this Thursday morning.

Have a blessed day in Oklahoma you Trump fake Christians and try to live the Golden Rule if you can with the markets as they are.

Love,

Mike J

I mean, there’s not many OU basketball fans left standing with me who watched the John MacLoud days back in the 70’s at the old Fieldhouse. In my junior high days was when I started my OU hoops fandom. And through it all… I’m not if I’ve sure if ever been as confused about a team or a coach as I am currently.

OU’s loss to West Virginia in the championship game of the sketchy MGM Crown Invitational only tells one thing I already knew and admitted on here before…that being, OU being the last team out is irrelevant because its apparent with their loss to West Virginia the Sooners would have been an early exit in the NCAA Tournament.

I’m not sure whether to be happy or sad that new OU athletic director has given Porter another year with even more money than the $6.5 million he was budgeted this past season to get OU more transfer portal talent to get to the NCAA Tournament.

I’m not on Roger Denny at all because he inherited this situation from Joe C. This hire is on Joe C’s legacy books. I do like the fact though Roger D hired a mens’ basketball general manager this previous week from Clemson by the name of Lucas McKay. Clemson was a postive story this season in mens’ hoops.

I also like the fact Roger D didn’t piss away money on a buyout of Porter Moser before he exhausted the process of making sure Porter indeed gets the resources to be successfull in this Wild West era of college basketball.

I like the calm and nuance Roger D has shown so far.. If only the crazy person in the White House could display such calm would be refreshing.

We cannot be naive at this point…mens’ college football and basketball for the most part have become a whore-money games with no real guard-rails.

If OU did indeed spend $6.5 million on this team which just finished at 21-16 overall and 9-12 in SEC games with a season ending NCAA Net ranking of No. 47 in the last poll …a new standard of success needs to be proven next season by Porter Moser and his staff.

As per the Portal right now…OU potentially has four players left who could give the Sooners some semblance of a returning core next season. Those four would be point guard Xsayvier Brown, forward Derrion Reed, hybrid guard Dayton Forsythe, and freshman center Kai Rogers.

So in closing let me say… I like Porter. I think he’s a good man and a decent coach. I do. But in this era of college sports I sadly realize sometimes just being a good human and decent coach isn’t enough.

A week ago who would predicted former Denver Nugget coach Mike Malone would be the next head coach at North Carolina to match with their football hire of Bill Belichick. And right there illustrates what I’m saying…Hubert Davis got North Carolina to NCAA Championship game just several seasons ago with Brady Manek as one of his best players and is now gone because he didn’t win enough to satiate the fandom in Chapel Hill.

I would suggest to Porter to at the very least get to the NCAA Tournament and the Sweet 16 in Year 6 in Norman.

Mike J

My goodness, what an awful Final Four. It seemed after the incredible UConn-Duke ending the entire event just fell flat on its face. I fell asleep with eight minutes left in last night’s game. I cannot fib or pretend on my blog and can’t recap the game.

Tell me why all the sudden college basketball fans needed to see Megan Moroney performing at what is primarily a black participation event attended by rich college white kids? Was this an act of retribution for the Bad Bunny Super Bowl show? The whole thing was confusing.

But in the sense of fairness… I’ll play the Michigan fight song instead of One Shining Moment. I love the Michigan fight song and it is clearly in my top five college fight song list.

So… I’m still getting quite a bit of chatter on my exclusive CEO okcthunderground.com private message box from dogs and cats not only from Ohio, but from pets in other battleground states, blue states, and several purple states as well. I’ve sent Google an email and want to make sure these private messages go into my overall Google traffic count so as to boost future ad revenue in a Trumpian gesture of untethered American greed which would make Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson proud.

So again…that’s my Monday evening recap of how the transfer portal and NIL have finally made Championship Monday unwatchable EVEN for a hoops addict like me.

You poor white people who voted for Trump…hang in there. You’re not the only dumbasses who voted for Caligula. It’s cool. No hard feelings. We’re all just human and in this together. Like on the Titanic.

Eternal love,

Mike J

What a game I would say and coupled with the OKC Thunder’s two classic wins over the Denver Nuggets for my nominations for best game of the regular season so far. All three of these games involving Denver have been by far the best pure basketball entertainment of the season.

This game had everything. The Spurs led most of the way and Denver had to hang on several times just to stay in the game to give itself a chance at the end.

These two title contenders behind the defending champ Thunder give us all hope the upcoming NBA Playoffs are going to be special. We’ll still get the Thunder at Denver and then the Nuggets at San Antonio coming down the stretch as all three teams are now down to four games remaining.

The stats were amazing in this game. Jokic’s numbers went 40 pts, 8 rebounds, 13 assists, +12. Wemby’s numbers were 34 points, 18 rebounds, 7 assists, +4.

My MVP vote still goes this way though…1 Shai, 2 virtual tie between Jokic and Wemby with four games left, 4 Cade Cunningham, 5 Jalen Brown, and 6 Jalen Brunson.

Despite what Stan van Gundy opines on Prime Network…I do not have Luka Doncic in my Top 6 of MVP vote getters. He’s a one way player. He loafs on defense on a team which is terrible defensively. LeBron is too old to change this fact. Luka’s a pylon defensive liability when you get down to playing against the best ten teams or so left standing in the playoffs. Well coached teams will isolate either on Luka or Austin Reaves. If I prove to be wrong on this I’ll admit as much.

Ask Sam Presti what it takes to win an NBA championship. A great defense and a player like Shai leading by example every day.

One thing which really stood out for me in this game was Denver’s supporting cast made some clutch plays to help Jokic down the stretch. Aaron Gordon actually defended Wemby just like the Thunder’s stronger players will need to do if these two teams meet. Plus, Aaron made a couple of big shots.

Christian Braun made five threes and looked like the CB from late last season. Tim Hardaway Jr. continued to be a big game dependable scorer. Cam Johnson for the first time I’ve witnssed this season made some clutch threes from that baseline spot of his to warrant him being on the floor. That’s the Cam Johnson coach David Adelman needs to fill the scoring void of the departed Michael Porter, Jr.

But what really stood out beyond Jokic’s excellence in overtime was the fact the Nuggets won this game on a day when Jamal Murry had a subpar performance. It was clearly an MVP performance by Jokic as his Nuggets are now tied for 3rd in the West with the Lakers.

Tell me who the one NBA fan in the world is that doesn’t want to see the Denver-San Antonio showdown in the Western Conference semis to earn the right to play OKC in the Western Conference Finals.

This is what I love the about the NBA this time of the season.

Have a great spring afternoon in Oklahoma.

Mike J

It is what it is, man. All you can do is your best. Time to hit the terrain bike then the cardio weight finish.

Do the things you can control and realize what you can’t change.

Be the best version of yourself and everything else will fall into place. I’m starting to sound like Plato or Socrates or something on here, right?

I still want to write up that Denver-San Antonio game though.

This is a really good workout song for me given I was born in San Diego and plan to visit soon.

Doing the work. That’s all you can do.

Mike J