Welcome to Thunder in the News, your daily stop for everything OKC Thunder. Today’s edition takes a look at the Thunder fan at the Finals and Westbrook’s newest commercial.
The NBA Finals has been an abomination for basketball fans around the world. While we were expecting to see a showdown between two titans, instead we’ve watched an unstoppable team with a God Complex dominate. Luckily for us there are human beings out there still providing us with entertainment.
Thunder fan at the Finals
Brian Edwards is a resident of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma who won tickets to Game Two through the NBA InPlay app. Weston Shepard from Daily Thunder has the full story.
"That’s when I stumbled across Brian Edwards.+Edwards, a Tulsa native, began popping up in tweets from Oracle Arena on Sunday night — and it was immediately clear he’s the hero OKC deserves, and also the one it needs right now. Along with wife Rebecca, the duo took in Game 2 while wearing full sets of Thunder armor. I had to learn a bit more about these wonderful human beings, so I tracked him down on Twitter and found him nice enough to answer some questions about what inspired this legendary act of Thunder fandom.Meet your newest hero."
Russell Westbrook releases a new commercial
Leave it to Russ to wait and drop his new commercial until Game Two of the NBA Finals begins. Erik Horne from The Oklahoman breaks down the commercial, providing intel into a couple of the more important scenes.
"Westbrook then meets up with kids in a gym where his Leuzinger High School No. 4 jersey hangs. He even catches an alley-oop from one of the youngsters.“You’ve gotta remember where you come from, and always stay aware of that regardless of what time it is,” Westbrook says. “… always try to find ways to give back and continue to make them feel like we care.“You can make it out of any situation because I was once one of those kids.”The spotlight keeps getting brighter for Westbrook, who ESPN recently tabbed as the 35th most famous athlete in the world according to a formula which accounts for endorsements, social media following and Google/Baidu search engine popularity."
Re-signing Taj Gibson is not the Thunder’s smartest move
I love Taj Gibson and everything he brings to the basketball court, but re-signing him is just not feasible. Check out my column detailing all the reasons why Gibson isn’t necessarily a fit for the Thunder anymore.
"Gibson’s game is a perfect match for a young team building around Russell Westbrook; he’s a physical player that’s agile for his size and a well-respected veteran. But the Thunder already have $110 million locked up next season, including over $40 million to Steven Adams and Enes Kanter combined. Paying Gibson would entail Oklahoma City spending around 50% of their cap for three big men who can’t space the floor.The cap isn’t the only problem with re-signing Gibson either. With Jerami Grant and Domantas Sabonis both expected to take leaps the Thunder already have four rotational bigs on their roster. Dakari Johnson is patiently waiting for a two-way contract and Nick Collison wants to return, potentially giving OKC 6 bigs for 17 roster spots. Oh yeah, and Presti also discussed Doug McDermott playing more power forward next season."
As always, thanks for reading Thunder in the news! Make sure to check out Thunderous Intentions daily this offseason so you stay up-to-date on your favorite team.