Kevin Durant’s Oklahoma City Thunder Obit

Kevin Durant: Oklahoma City Thunder forward, 2008-2016

Kevin Durant is an exceptional NBA basketball player who now plays for the Golden State Warriors AAU super team in Oakland, California. Previous to joining the Warriors, Durant played eight seasons for the Oklahoma City Thunder and one season for the same franchise in Seattle.

In high school, Durant played at three different high schools and was a star AAU circuit player. But his stock soared when he grew five inches one year in high school and began the process of becoming a generational offensive scoring machine.

In 2007, Durant won the Naismith Award as the outstanding college basketball player in the nation. He decided to forego his sophomore season at the University of Texas and was drafted as the second player in the draft only behind Ohio State’s Greg Oden who was selected by the Portland Trailblazers.

Durant played one season in Seattle winning NBA Rookie of the Year honors. The franchise moved the following season to Oklahoma City where the team was named the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Durant’s time in Oklahoma City was marked with outstanding achievements both from an individual and team standpoint. During these eight seasons the Thunder became not only one of the elite teams in the NBA, but in all of professional sports as well. The team made it to the finals of the rugged Western Conference four times during Durant’s tenure in Oklahoma City. In 2012, the Thunder made it to the NBA Finals before losing in five games to LeBron James and the Miami Heat.

Durant was a seven time NBA All-Star while playing in Oklahoma City. He won the league’s MVP award in 2014 and won the NBA All-Star Game MVP one time. He won four different league scoring championships and had a 40-50-90 season during the MVP season.

During Durant’s time in Oklahoma City he became engaged to NWBA star Monica Wright. However, the engagement was terminated by Wright amid her accusation of Durant cheating on her.

At the height of Durant mania in Oklahoma City he opened his own restaurant called KD’s Southern Cuisine in the Bricktown area with a local restaurant group.

Durant’s next to last season in Oklahoma City was marred by injury as he missed 55 games due to a Jones’ fracture in his foot which required three surgeries.

In 2016, Durant returned to the court and had a typical Kevin Durant season as the Thunder finished in third place in the Western Conference behind the record setting Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs. In the playoffs though the Thunder came alive for three weeks and played the best basketball of the Durant Era in Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma City eliminated the San Antonio Spurs in six games in the conference semi-finals to advance to their fourth conference final in the Durant Era in Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma City continued their torrid play in the conference finals against the Golden State Warriors leading the series 3-1 as the Thunder played overall outstanding team basketball with Kevin Durant and co All-Star Russell Westbrook leading the way.

The series came back to Oklahoma City for a Game 6. It will go down as Durant’s last game played in Oklahoma City as the Thunder blew a seven point lead with six minutes left in the game. Durant was 10-31`and had two turnovers in the game’s final minutes which would seal the Thunder’s defeat. The Thunder would go on to lose Game 7 in Oakland and it would turn out to be Durant’s last game played in a Thunder uniform.

On July 1, 2016, Durant became an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his professional career. On July 4, 2016, Kevin Durant announced via an internet posting he would be leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder to join the Oakland AAU Super Team.

Durant’s announcement created a national controversy similar to the one created by LeBron James when he left the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat super team years earlier.

Ironically, if Durant had simply decided to stay in Oklahoma City he’d be playing alongside Russell Westbrook, Steven Adams, Al Horford, and Victor Oladipo.

Durant leaves behind him in Oklahoma City a city which once adored him as one of their own. He leaves behind him a legacy of being an inductee to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, a now closed restaurant, and perhaps one of the most magical runs of any small market team in the history of the NBA save the San Antonio Spurs with Tim Duncan.

Time will only tell if Durant is thought of fondly years from now or if he will be viewed as a traitor who abandoned his teammates and a city which loved him to instead play with the crotch magnet Draymond Green and the AAU Super Oakland Warriors.

Only time will tell. But time usually heals and is kind.

History 101 for Donald Trump

Somewhere in all of this, Donald Trump told his followers he was a disciple of Reagan. Truth be told, he appears to be more of the successor to Larry Flynt at Hustler Magazine. But I don’t want to ruin this for anyone. I’m not sure if Donald Trump ever remembers any of this from Ronald Reagan’s second term in 1987. But this is why you need rogue bloggers here and there ever so often.

Hillary Clinton Can Now Focus on Doo-Doo Head

The Dems had a great convention. Some truly brilliant speeches with a tone of inclusiveness and working together as a country. Yet, in this political year of dysfunction, I’m not sure this will translate into a big lead for Clinton heading into the first debate.

Give doo-doo head credit. He’s the first politician in American history who can say anything, do anything, be seen kissing on Vladamir Putin, literally kill another person …and yet his base remains loyal. So knowing this as fact, why would this convention sway any of those people?

At some point–I’ll have to decide if I’m going to put a John Kasich sign in my yard or whether I’ll vote for Hillary Clinton on election day. I think Kasich would have made a great president, but I’m not the type to piss away my vote. It means too much to me.Too many people have done truly courageous things for all of us to have our say at the polling place. It’s not a right any of us should take lightly.

I know this for a fact though–Donald Trump will not be part of my personal equation. He’s just not qualified and he is a doo-doo head at the end of the day. Even more to the point, most fourth graders I’ve observed of late operate on a higher maturity plane than Donald Trump.

But even if you’re for doo-doo head you should vote. It’s your right.

Joe Biden on Night 3 at the DNC

All the heavyweights speaking at this convention. Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, etc. Some incredible speeches tonight at the DNC in Philly. Leon Panetta, Michael Bloomberg, Tim Kane, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. All were extremely effective and eloquent in their own right. All pretty much hammering on the theme Donald Trump is a con artist and a fraud.

Barack Obama is clearly the greatest political orator of our time. Bill Clinton was, but Obama has moved into his own space as a speaker.

I’m going to go with Biden’s speech first. Maybe not the grace and eloquence of an Obama speech, but so much heart when Joe Biden speaks. Not an accident the theme music from Rocky glared as he took the stage tonight.

I’m going with Biden tonight and Barack Obama in the morning. Maybe Michael Bloomberg as well. He was outstanding.

And if you’re a Trump supporter and you’re wondering why people like Bush 41, Bush 43, John McCain, Mitt Romney, John Kasich, Jeb Bush, Lindsey Graham and other prominent Republicans didn’t speak was that they basically think he’s a fraud as well.

Anyway….Joe Biden.

Sarah Silverman All Grown Up and Everything at the DNC

Michelle Obama went yard, but it was Sarah Silverman who led off the inning with a single to right center if you follow the baseball analogy. I was just proud of her for not spewing Trump supporters with a spew of F-bombs. It was a nice moment. One I have to post on here. Even in places Trump hates to admit exist within him, he would have given up a golf resort for Sarah Silverman to do this at his convention.

Michelle Obama Goes Yard on Opening Night of DNC

If you’re a lover of good speeches filled with vision of what our country is and should aspire to be it was a great night to lay in front of the flat screen with the diva lab and watch every single speech of the evening.

Unlike the GOP convention, angry white people weren’t chanting ‘Lock Her Up’. Instead, it was a night of people not related to Hillary Clinton giving their unique take on why America is still the greatest country on the earth and what can be done to make it better for our children and grandchildren.

Sarah Silverman was sublime getting it started. I might even put her speech on here tomorrow. I’ve always liked her and she looks great so that part was easy.

Corey Booker was next and was excellent. Tough, smart, and a natural ability to speak. No wonder he was a vice-presidential finalist.

Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders closed out night one in what was clearly an olive leaf to the progressive branch of the Democratic Party. Both were good, but just before them came the best speech of the night coming from Michelle Obama.

It connected with me in multiple ways. As an American, as a parent, and as a grown up. It touched me.

Anyway, here it is. Melania would be well served to watch it, just not use it in her next speech though.