Nate Robinson pays homage to his beloved Sonics with a little Thunder shade
Nate Robinson pays homage to his beloved SuperSonics throwing a tiny bit of shade at the OKC Thunder based on the Russell Westbrook trade.
During the 2010-11 NBA season Nate Robinson briefly appeared alongside a trio of OKC Thunder superstars in the making. Eight seasons later with the trio now playing for other teams Robinson a devout Seattle SuperSonics fan isn’t shedding any tears for Thunder Nation.
In fairness, the Seattle SuperSonics is Robinson’s team and he’s still a bit chaffed over Seattle losing the franchise. All of us can understand that losing a franchise would be devastating. Personally, I still feel like Seattle should have a team (and Oklahoma City). If and when the National Basketball Association and Adam Silver decide to expand the league let’s hope the first city who gets allocated a team would be Seattle.
I’ve had this discussion with former Sonics fans and completely understand their mindset. Simply put it sucks.
Likewise, it would be great for Vancouver to get back their squad especially now that basketball is so beloved in Canada. So many of my friends were crushed when the Grizzlies moved to Memphis. Seattle was tough because of the long storied history of the franchise.
Even a team in Montreal would be awesome, although I think it would be a bit of a problem for young squads given how much entertainment is available. Think New York City and Toronto if you will with bars open until 4:00 a.m.
The ironic part about Nate Robinson’s comments is he played for the OKC Thunder briefly. The point guard arrived at the end of the 2010-11 season appearing in just four regular season games. Robinson was with the team through a deep postseason run, however, the diminutive guard played in just three games of the 17 playoff contests. In each circumstance, Robinson played under six minutes most in blow out games with two against Memphis and one against Dallas.
He averaged 2.7 points, 0.3 assists and shot 33.3 percent from the perimeter in those brief appearances with the Thunder winning both Grizzlies matches he played in.
Getting back to the Sports Illustrated interview, (as per the video above) Robinson noted all of the big three were still with the team when he was on it (referring to James Harden, Kevin Durant, and Russell Westbrook). Asked if he was shocked they are all gone the three-time slam dunk champion said he is surprised. This was the portion of the interview where Robinson threw a little shade
"“For me, it is pretty cool to see all of them go now, you know because OKC kind of took my Sonics so now that they have none of the three it’s not really that big of a deal for me (laughs)”"
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After the host and Nate share a laugh over his long lasting grudge, Robinson backtracks to say he’s happy to see how each of the Thunder superstars careers has developed.
That’s not to say Robinson didn’t make any new friends in OKC stating he doesn’t feel bad the trio is gone and goes on to say if they had been in Seattle none of them would have every left.
That feels like a bit of a stretch to suggest each of Harden, Durant and Westbrook would still be on the same team were they playing in Seattle. But, in fairness, this is Nate Robinson the fan speaking, not the player so let’s afford him our respect for being loyal to the Sonics franchise he still misses and loved.
Next. How Thunder backcourt duo Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can thrive together. dark
Again, from this side of the world, I hope the NBA corrects this one day and brings the NBA back to Seattle as well as Vancouver.