I needed to take several days away from the blog because our family lost a beloved member on Wednesday. Perk, or Perkins, the majestic chocolate lab who joined our family as a pup in 2012, and who was named in honor of Kendrick Perkins… passed on Wednesday in Greenwood Village, Colorado at the glorious age of 14.5 in dog years and 101.5 years in the human equivalent.
At some point when I’ve stopped crying…I’ll do justice to Perk here on the blog. But right now…I would say I need some more time. On one hand it hurts because I lost a tremendous friend, someone I could lean on. On the other hand… Perk lived an aspirational life and exited with the appropriate dignity.
In these three years on my Stage 4 cancer journey…Perk was clearly a role model for me. An inspiration. Someone I respected and admired. Someone I loved to nap next to on the couch. Someone I loved. This is tough, but as a family we’ll grow from this and become stronger.
So today I want aspiration on my blog. That’s easy to do right now given what we see game in and game out from Shai in this season where the Thunder are attempting to be the first NBA team in eight years to repeat as champions.
The Thunder improved to a league best 37-8 on Wednesday night in Milwaukee despite missing five rotational players. For those of you not keeping track that puts the Thunder as the leader in the NBA clubhouse with a 132 collective games missed due to injury or illness to date.
That is staggering when you contemplate it, and yet here the Thunder sit at 37-8 five to six games ahead of Denver, San Antonio, and Detroit for the overall No. 1 seed.
If this season were over today…Shai would be the landslide winner for regular season MVP. Not even close given Nikola’s injury absence in Denver. Who would be second right now…maybe Luka. Are you kidding me? Luka isn’t close to the overall player Shai has turned himself into with all his hard work. Shai should be Luka’s role model since I was writing about role models earlier.
On Wednesday night in Milwaukee with five players missing, here is what Shai’s absurd line read… 40 points on a 16-19 night from the field, 7 rebounds, 11 assists, +19.
For those of you not keeping track…Shai’s TS% or True Shooting % is a staggering 67%. TS combines shooting percentages from the field, beyond the arc, and at the free-throw line. This is a historic number. But on this blog at this point I don’t want to be making Shai comparisons to Michael or Kobe or DWade or anybody else.
Shai is uniquely…Shai.
I just want to make sure on this blog with me covering the Thunder in my own unique manner I give Shai the respect he deserves not only as a basketball player, but as the face of the Thunder franchise and to be honest the face of one of the hottest cities in the United Staets.
Mayor David Holt should follow that thought with some sort of statement which goes beyond just people like me talking about what Shai does on the court. What he does is give this city the heartbeat of a champion which makes all of us collectively proud of what purple Oklahoma City has become.
This Milwaukee team is borderline putrid. Keep this in mind you Thunder fans…the Bucks in 2021 won the NBA championship with Coach Michael Budenholtzer on the bench. The Bucks’ top seven players went in this order on my list… 1 Giannis, 2 Jrue Holiday, 3 Khris Middleton, 4 Brook Lopez, 5 Donte DiVencenzo, 6 Bobby Portis, and 7 Pat Connaughton.
Only Giannis and Bobby Portis remain on this current Milwaukee Buck roster. So my advice to you Thunder fans is savor every moment of what’s happening in Oklahoma City with Shai and this team.
This is a remarkable story. One which shouldn’t be ignored.
The Thunder host the Indiana Pacers tonight inside of a warm Pay.Com Arena before the epic winter storm takes hold in Oklahoma. Again…as with the Bucks—one should note how rapidly the fates of an NBA franchise can drop with some luckless injuries or bad decisions from the front office.
In closing…this song is what Perk, Chris, and Elaine were listening to in Perk’s favorite spot on a sunny day in Greenwood Village in the front yard when he ascended to a very glorious place.
It’s going to be okay. I’ll make it.
Stay warm and as always be kind to others.
Mike J