Sports Minded: Thunder rolls

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Published on Wednesday, 15 February 2012 12:40

As an athlete, there’s nothing like having a chip on your shoulder.  You know…that feeling that you get no respect, that your opponent or so-called experts look at you as nothing more than a poser, a “wannabe.” If you’ve played any kind of sport you’ve probably experienced at one time or another.    

I’ve been following the Oklahoma City Thunder story since the moment Clay Bennett (an Oklahoma City good ‘ol boy) bought the Seattle SuperSonics.  You’ll remember that in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Hornets were transplanted in OKC as a temporary home while Louisiana and the rest of the Mississippi River delta recovered from one of the worst natural disasters in American history.  We as Oklahomans did what we do best.  We opened our arms, treated the organization like it was our own and proved to the rest of the world that Oklahomans supports our sports teams...even if they are only here for a little while.  We were ready to be a big big league state...we just had to convince the rest of the world.

Enter Clay Bennett.  The SuperSonics with then rookie Kevin Durant were dying on the vine in Seattle.  The city didn’t support them and ownership (Starbucks guru Howard Shultz) saw the writing on the wall.  Bennett and his contingency of Oklahoma financiers were more than happy to step in.   Predictably Super Sonic fans were up in arms and threw a virtual fit knowing that it was only a matter of time before their team would be moving to OKC.   Lack of voter suppor for a new arena in Seattle resulted in what SuperSonic fans had feared…a move to OKC and what an unbelievable move its turn out to be.

As of last Friday evening, the Thunder own the best record in the NBA.  At 21-6, the Thunder have positioned themselves as one of the favorites to represent the western conference in the NBA finals.  This is a conference that has teams the likes of LA’s Lakers, the Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs and even the upstart LA Clippers, all teams that have won world titles in the last decade sans the Clippers of course.   In just four short years, the Thunder has gone from a losing record and missing the playoffs in season one to division champs last season, conference finalists and two wins away from playing for all of the marbles.

Sadly enough, there are still non-believers…the biggest of which is NBA Hall-of-Famer and virtual big mouth Charles Barkley.   I’ve never been much of a Barkley fan and with the anti-Oklahoma campaign the self-proclaimed “round mound of sound” has been on.  I’m likely never to become a fan.  I took some time to find just a few quotes Barkley has spewed over the past few years concerning the Thunder:

“Oklahoma is no place for black people.  The Oklahoma Sooners and the Hornets are the only brothers in town,” –in a TNT All-Star selection show interview in 2008.

"Oklahoma is nothing but vast wasteland," –on air in 2010

“The Oklahoma City Thunder stink defensively. Kevin Durant got mad at me a couple of weeks ago (for saying this). They don’t play any defense and they don’t rebound the ball. That’s why they are not a legit contender. Until they learn to play defense and rebound the ball, they are just in the way.”-Last season in January

Barkley has piped up even more this season.  Part of it is for ratings and part of it is attention mongering.  I get that but, Barkley’s little dog and pony show is getting old and his refusal to jump on the Thunder band wagon only proves that pride sometimes outweighs common sense or even obvious knowledge that even a blind man could see.

I don’t personally know any of the Thunder players and I’m fairly certain they’ve got more important things to do with their time than to worry about what any media type might have to say about them.  However, if Durant and boys need any extra motivation this season they need only to look up some Charles Barkley commentary about their team.  And to the SuperSonic ya-who’s who make it a point to go to every Oklahoma City game played on the west coast and sit behind the bench with their ugly green and white Seattle throw back jerseys, best “give up the ghost”…the Thunder is going to roll in Oklahoma for a long time.