OKC Thunder: 7 head coach candidates with ties to franchise
Kevin Ollie – the pro
Kevin Ollie is a Dallas native who played his college ball at UConn and joined the Connecticut Pride of the CBA when he failed to be selected in the draft.
In 1997 he made his entry to the NBA joining the Dallas Mavericks, the first of 12 teams he would play with over his 13-year career. His final team was the OKC Thunder where he completed his career in 2010.
Kevin Durant credits Ollie for building the player culture in OKC by how professional he was. Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman highlighted quotes from KD and Westbrook on Ollie.
"“Kevin Ollie, he was a game-changer for us,” Durant told Bill Simmons in 2014. “He changed the whole culture, I think. He might not say it, but I think he changed the whole culture in Oklahoma City.” “He’s a great role model,” Westbrook said. “He did a great job of coming in here and helping us become leaders, myself and Kevin. Just taught us a lot of things.”"
This was a common take on Ollie as the point guard was added to the Cavaliers to provide leadership, demonstrate work ethic and a professional example. Like the OKC Thunder, the Cavs had a young superstar at the time (LeBron James).
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Ollie wasted no time getting into coaching as he returned to his alma mater becoming an assistant coach for UConn. Two seasons later he took over as the head coach when Jim Calhoun retired. Success was almost immediate as Ollie led his Huskies to the NCAA title in his second season. His squad defeated Donovan’s Gators and the Kentucky Wildcats on route to the title with Shabazz Napier the biggest name on the roster.
Although Ollie kept the Huskies competitive and was rewarded with a five-year contract in 2014 he was fired in 2018 for NCAA compliance violations. The former NBA point guard hasn’t coached since being released.
While Ollie is a tactician who would check off multiple boxes such as player and culture development I’m not sure how viable a candidate he is for the Thunder. Presti is all about character and the shine on Ollie’s issue with the NCAA may cancel him for consideration. For years there have been whispers of violations occurring all over the NCAA but for the moment Ollie is one of the few who’ve been caught and punished.