Thunderous Thoughts – Don’t worry, bout a thing

Welcome to Thunderous Thoughts, your weekly look at the OKC Thunder. This week, it’s time to just move on.

Last week, I didn’t submit a weekly OKC Thunder article for Thunderous Intentions for the first time in three years. Even during my wedding/honeymoon last year, I found time to write my weekly article. But last week, I took my first vacation from the site since joining all those years ago.

I spent my week in Jamaica, lounging on the beach, living as Jamaican tourists do. Drank the free alcohol provided by the all-inclusive hotel, listened to the endless Body Marley music, and calmed my nerves with legal extra curricular activities such as cliff jumping.

I didn’t think about Paul George’s struggles from three-point range or Carmelo Anthony’s flat-footed defense or Billy Donovan’s inane rotations. The only time I mentioned the Thunder is when a hotel staff member, noticing my OKC t-shirt, asked me, “Do you like Kevin Durant?”

Nice try, hotel staff member.

Otherwise, I did as Marley told me to do. “Don’t worry, bout a thing. Cause every little thing, gonna be alright.” It was the most relaxing vacation of my life and I didn’t want to head to home to responsibilities last weekend.

I’ve been home from Jamaica for less than a week now. I’m sick, I had to attend the funeral of a 29-year-old friend, and I took my wife to the hospital for the third time in as many months.

Jamaica, I miss you.

What does this have to do with the Thunder?

MUST READ: Ranking OKC Thunder first round opponents

Well, as I was watching Tuesday’s game and the epic collapse in the final 20 seconds. I thought about Jamaica and how I was at peace during that week. How nothing that happened in the sports world bothered me because I wasn’t around to witness it. How I didn’t want to witness it.

More from Thunderous Intentions

• Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
• Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
• 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
• Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

And I was at peace with the meltdown. I didn’t punch a pillow or yell in anger or sit in silence before exploding by punching a pillow and yelling in anger. In a way, I was relieved.

Because this is what this team does. This is what they’ve done throughout their history. They’ve always been there to disappoint us. No matter the circumstances or situation, they always find a way to let us down and make us suffer in the end.

So, why bother get angry? It solves nothing and doesn’t make it any easier the next time they disappoint us. Yeah, Tuesday sucked. But we’ll forget all about Tuesday when they blow a 3-0 lead in the first round of the playoffs. Better yet, we’ll forget all about Tuesday when they lose to the Trail Blazers, again, on Sunday.

The Thunder are who they are. There is no magical switch or fix to this team. They’re just a franchise with some of the worst luck in the last ten years coupled with boneheaded mistakes that came back to haunt them.

Next: Thunder in the News: The importance of PG and Billy Donovan

My trip to Jamaica helped me accept that. It helped me see that there is no point in worrying about these things. Maybe every little thing is not gonna be alright, things will quickly move on. There will be another game. Another season. Another reason to get excited and another disappointment.

Appreciate the highs. And get high during the lows.