Patreon Peek: Couldn’t Ask for More
Here’s a peek at the latest “Weekend Edition” newsletter, which we send our supporters on Patreon every week. Patrons receive weekly perks including the newsletter and editorial note that follows, early post releases, podcast bonuses, free and discounted merch, local business specials, and more, all chased with the satisfactions of materially supporting quality Thunder content that isn’t awash in clickbait and ads to generate revenue. This week, you can view the full Weekend Edition for free here.
A note from the editor:
Last week, I couldn’t help but see parallels between our site and the underdog Thunder trying to dethrone math itself in the playoffs. After we got what I’ve been wishing for since January–an epic showdown with Russ and the Rockets–I feel another one coming on.
In the same season in which Russell Westbrook was traded by OKC, Daily Thunder’s rebuild and replenish process began as well. In September of 2019, John Napier and myself purchased DT from media superstar Royce Young, who will always be #1 in our readers’ hearts even while balling exclusively for ESPN. We expected the team to be broken up in relatively short order, and for us to be building our voice from the ashes of a Process-like ground zero. Instead, a stunning, delightful season caught us unawares–as did the Daily Thunder family. Readers, Patreon subscribers, writers, and other residents of Daily Thunderland quickly proved to be diverse, thoughtful, hilarious, and up for matching Oklahoma City’s on-court thrillride.
Brandon Rahbar’s fit as our beat writer was magical. Brandon is eternally optimistic about Thunder basketball, bordering on the irrational (he’ll gladly admit this). If you squint hard enough after a loss, you’ll see promising signs and hope for the next game on the schedule. And squint he did, after durn near every 32 of the Thunder’s defeats. He was right, I was wrong. He saw this team for what it was much more clearly through his rose-tinted glasses than I did from my single, darkened monocle.
Olivia Panchal was our first and only candidate to become Senior Writer for Daily Thunder, and her creativity and energy helped fill out the our voice in the (afternoon) hours Brandon slept. Plus, Olivia roped in her sister, Natasha, to give us the best visual design in the blogosphere.
I could run down every other contributor and tell you just how much they meant to our success this season, but I’ll save it for my Blog Oscar’s speech. In the middle of a pandemic and historic NBA stoppage, our writers, Patrons, and other supporters stayed plugged into the Daily Thunder and kept us afloat as an outlet with something to show for months of non-activity. And our readers, followers, media peers, team contacts, and all other allies great or small, made it truly a labor of love. In the last 12 months, we’ve made thousands of friends and zero enemies. We’re not even blocked by Ben DuBose.
Like Thunder fans who made it all the way to Game 7 in a found money season, I could not have asked for more as we covered our first season at DT. But in the end, didn’t we all want a little more? I still do.
OKC fans decided they’d welcome a shot at the Los Angeles freaking Lakers in the postseason. So too are we hungry for more challenges on the blog front. Whatever flurry of trades, picks, development, and other of the million possibilities on the horizon for the team, we’ll be there helping the Thunder faithful digest it all with style.
Every day.
– Cray Allred
