This season marks the 14th anniversary of the OKC Thunder. During the franchise’s existence fans have witnessed copious players come and go from the organization. In fact, the fan base was spoiled by the talent on the roster in those Thunder University years.
While everyone knew Kevin Durant was a generational talent, the selection of Russell Westbrook was considered at the time to be a bit of a reach at fourth in the draft. James Harden and Serge Ibaka followed in the second season (2009-10) with the third and 24th selections.
The basketball Gods shone upon the franchise as three of those players went on to become Most Valuable Players, KD, and Westbrook while in OKC and Harden as a Rocket. Executive vice president and general manager, Sam Presti is hoping history repeats with potentially 36 draft picks or swaps in the next seven seasons (18 first and second-round picks).
While they say lightning never strikes the same place twice Thunder Nation will hope to defy logic. Just as we became connected to each and every roster iteration of the Thunder, similarly, the men and women of the media became a part of our lives. Brett Dawson and Fred Katz were two personal favorites.
Royce Young exits ESPN to come home and join front office of OKC Thunder
Yet the one media member many associate with the Thunder is Royce Young. For the past eight years, Young was a feature writer for ESPN. And now, in a bit of unconventional career shift, Young is joining the Thunder front office. His specific job will be within the basketball operations team “contributing content o their various platforms (podcasts, TV, website and other things)”. Young jokes he’ll likely also be grabbing Mr. Thunder’s (Nick Collison) coffee too.
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Young is a native of Norman, Oklahoma, and attended the University of Oklahoma. In the inaugural season of the OKC Thunder, Young was in his final year of college and launched his wildly successful blog “Daily Thunder”.
Six years later he moved to ESPN as a feature writer covering all-NBA but remained a constant source for Thunder news and feature articles.
Young broke the news this week on social media, stating his excitement to return home and gain invaluable experience from within an organization he clearly has strong ties to.
While it’s not a typical move for a writer, the precedent was set in 2012 by John Hollinger who became the Memphis Grizzlies vice president of basketball operations.
Young noted his ties to the franchise citing the chemistry and admiration of the collaborative culture within the organization. He felt this unique opportunity and noted the cutting edge manner of how the Thunder share information about the players, community, and franchise and was one he simply couldn’t pass up.
For fans who want to learn move about Young’s move catch the Thunder Basketball Universe pod with Nick Gallo and Paris Lawson. The trio dive into the culture of the franchise and how it resonates through all aspects of the organization. Welcome home Royce, we look forward to your contributions to the OKC Thunder.