With Westbrook taking a bit of a backseat and Anthony off the team, George put together a stellar first half of the season. Oklahoma City survived a grueling seven-game first round series against Memphis, then got past the Los Angeles Clippers in six games in the second round.
Via Lee Jenkins’ Sports Illustrated feature: When Kendrick Perkins played center for the Thunder, he called teammates “cupcake” if he thought they were acting a little soft.
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Instead... Oklahoma City’s roster reconstruction wasn’t enough to keep its biggest star.
Two of those superstars are gone – Harden traded in October 2012, Durant fleeing via free agency in 2016.
The problems with that combination proved to be fatal in a six-game first-round series loss to the underdog Utah Jazz. The trio combined to score 71 points in a Game 1 win over LeBron James’ Heat. The 2011 CBA included an amnesty provision, which allowed franchises to wipe a player’s salary off their books for both cap and tax purposes. DEVENEY: OKC rebuilds and revamps Thunder in Westbrook's image. Kevin Durant faces the Thunder on Thursday, 121 days after he left them. ", "I like to compete, I like to go against the best," Westbrook said. They join LeBron James as the four most decorated NBA players this decade.
OKC’s bet paid off big, With Westbrook taking a bit of a backseat, The Rockets’ system can actually get the best out of Russell Westbrook, Sam Presti lost a potential Thunder dynasty. In their early 20s, could all three have been willing to absorb all the potential sacrifices, from the endorsements to the shots to the money?
Westbrook may not be part of a super team, but the Thunder have been impressive heading into the All-Star break. That first year together — all still of college age — they led the Thunder to 50 wins and a playoff berth. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. But Westbrook and Harden, long before their MVP seasons the last two years, long have been making the case that they are transcendent talents headed for all-time NBA greatness.
“Definitely a worker. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Oklahoma City went 11-11 for the rest of the regular season, setting up a matchup against the No. This (stuff) is ridiculous.”, Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. In the series clincher against LA, Ibaka strained his calf, and Presti announced he was unlikely to return for the postseason. “There’s nowhere else I would rather be than Oklahoma City,” Westbrook said in a press conference that was opened to media and fans.
Thank you to the fans who make representing those 3 letters mean something. That’s nine seasons. It looked like a simple photo from his Independence Day cookout, but we later learned there was a hidden meaning behind the post. They’d been in OKC from Day 1. But the dominance of those three players goes beyond single-season MVP voting. OKC won both games in Chesapeake Arena, and his return left an impression on his teammates.
If I had more time, I suppose I could redo it with a 5-3-2-1 point system, giving two points for third-team all-NBA and one point for honorable mention. After the trade of George, the writing was on the wall for Westbrook’s departure. But the cornerstones of the decade are LeBron and the Thunder U. trio of Westbrook, Durant and Harden. ... April 26, 2013: Russell Westbrook tears his meniscus. A post shared by Paul George (@ygtrece) on Jul 6, 2019 at 7:22pm PDT. Now, all we have left is what could have been.
Westbrook arrives averaging an Oscar Robertson like triple-double: 30.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, 10.3 assists.
With Durant already locked up and Westbrook having signed a maximum contract back in January, the Thunder had to let either Harden or Ibaka walk, or pay a hefty luxury-tax price.
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