Friday Bolts: 8.25.17
Royce Young on why Russell Westbrook hasn’t signed his extension: “Westbrook has bounced between Los Angeles and Oklahoma City a number of times this summer, and hasn’t taken the offer. The deadline is the last day before the regular season starts — Oct. 16 — and with each passing day, the anxiety builds in OKC. Why hasn’t Westbrook accepted the deal that would pay him $207 million over five years?”
KD says he and Russ are still friends: “I don’t think we ever stopped being friends. We just stopped talking — but I don’t think we stopped being friends.”
William Pennington sat down with Paul George’s high school basketball coach: “He brings all those things — trust, accountability, and I know accountability in your teammates is really important for him. If they can establish the kind of team where they can be close and know the guy next to you will take care of his responsibility, that’s what he is built on. It’s a team. He’s a great teammate.”
Steven Adams is in New Zealand for basketball camps — his beard is back: “Steven Adams paid a fleeting visit to Christchurch on Friday where he took hundreds of young basketballers through an “Adams training camp” at Cowles Stadium. At least 200 selfies would have been taken with Adams in the five hours he was at the stadium. The Oklahoma City Thunder star spent plenty of time out on court with the adoring young fans.”
Speaking of which, the Canterbury Police Department offered to trade for Steven Adams: “We’re looking to trade Constable Sam Crozier, new recruits in 2018 and 19 along with a Police puppy for Steven Adams. All good?”
2K announced the all-time roster for the Thunder in NBA 2K18: “The all-time Thunder team is certainly formidable, and will be fairly modern in its small ball starting lineup. Gary Payton gets the nod at point guard, Russell Westbrook makes his much-anticipated debut at shooting guard, Ray Allen and KD add other-worldly shooting/scoring, and Shawn Kemp closes out the starting five with the ability to create a poster at any time.”
Fans in Seattle are predictably upset about 2K18’s shared history: “NBA 2K’s Oklahoma City roster includes Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka, James Harden, and 11 players who exclusively played in Seattle. For SuperSonics fans, despite the two teams technically sharing history, they’re mad that their beloved favorites are now being appropriated into Thunder team culture and will even wear Oklahoma City jerseys in the new game. For Thunder fans, most of these players are ones they never even watched.”
Quotes from KD’s appearance on the Bill Simmons Podcast: “Those relationships that you have with trainers and teammates and anybody in the organization, that’s loyalty. That’s friendship. That’s relationship. That’s something that’s gonna last forever. But when it comes to numbers on a paper, at the end of the day, that trumps everything. “Does this dude fit into our salary cap or into our plans? Nah, let’s see what we can get for him.” Like, that’s just a part of the game.”
