Thanks to some advice from his mother that stuck with him through the years, James Harden found himself standing beside two Oklahoma City Thunder teammates Saturday with his brand new jersey in hand.
Harden held up his uniform with the number 13—his lucky number since he wore it as the only freshman on his high school team—as he, center B.J. Mullens and swingman Robert Vaden were introduced to fans in their new NBA home for the first time.
“It’s finally here. It’s just a great moment,” said Harden, the former Arizona State guard who was taken third overall in Thursday night’s draft. “You work so hard and you put so much extra time just to get to this point. So many people wish they were in our positions right now. It just feels great to finally be here, and now the dream begins.”
Harden didn’t really think he was NBA-bound until he started creating some buzz as a freshman in college. He credits his mother for reminding him that “there’s always somebody out there better than you,” advice that helped keep his head on straight.
“That keeps me humble. That keeps me stable,” Harden said. “I think coming into this program, all the guys here are in the same situation I am as far as being humble and stable, and they’re young as well. I feel that I can come in here and learn from those guys and all grow together.”
Joining a team coming off a 23-59 season, Harden said he’s most excited about the Thunder’s youth. He’s only 19 years old, while cornerstones Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are 20. All told, eight of the players who’ll be back from last season’s roster are 25 or younger—and that doesn’t count the three draft picks.
“I know it’s a young team. I could come in and I could definitely play a lot of minutes, or whatever the case might be,” said Mullens, a 20-year-old who went with the 24th pick before getting traded to the Thunder. “The only thing that I can control is how hard I work every day, how hard I want it and just getting better and making my teammates better. So, that’s what I want to do.”
Harden enters a competition for the starting spot at shooting guard with Thabo Sefolosha, who took over the role after coming over in a February trade with the Chicago Bulls. Harden led the Pac-10 with 20.1 points per game last season and averaged 4.2 assists.
“I don’t want to just label myself as just a scorer, because they already have that here,” Harden said, referring to Durant. “I want to be a facilitator. When the shot’s there, take it. But other than that, come in here and be a facilitator and play hard.”
Mullens, who will wear No. 23, and Vaden (30) could provide help at two positions where Oklahoma City could lose depth if they don’t re-sign swingman Desmond Mason or center Robert Swift next month.
Mullens, a 7-footer from Ohio State, could turn into a backup for center Nenad Krstic and allow Nick Collison to move back to his more natural power forward position. In Vaden, the Thunder get a 38 percent 3-point shooter in college who could improve one of the NBA’s worst perimeter shooting teams.
“I know you’re not supposed to talk yourself up a lot, but I really feel like I was just as good as a lot of players in this draft, even in the first round,” said Vaden, who finished his career at Alabama-Birmingham after two seasons at Indiana. “But you can’t dwell on things in the past. I’m just excited about the opportunity that Oklahoma (City) gives me, and I’ve got the opportunity to show everybody what I have.”
Thunder players Jeff Green, Kyle Weaver, Serge Ibaka and D.J. White — Vaden’s former college roommate at Indiana—showed up to greet their new teammates.
“We’re very excited about all three of our guys. Thursday night was a great night for us,” coach Scott Brooks said. “One of the things that we value is high character, and we all agree on that. They’re hardworking guys, they’re going to add to our team. We’re a team that is getting better.”
Many basketball fans like to raise the stakes a little by placing bets on the game they’re watching. Most online sportsbetting sites also offer pokergames. For information on pokergames please visit Pokerlistings.com
Most Valuable Player: Kevin Durant. The second-year small forward turned in a spectacular season, even if few noticed, to firmly cement himself as the franchise player. Durant finished sixth in the league in scoring at more than 25 points per game. He also grabbed 6.5 boards and dished out nearly three assists a night.
Most Disappointing Player: Robert Swift. The injury-plagued center was never able to get on track, despite given every opportunity to earn a spot in the rotation. The former lottery pick played in just 26 games, averaging only 13 minutes. He heads into free agency looking for a new team.
Free Agent Focus: Malik Rose, Desmond Mason and Robert Swift are free agents. The team likely doesn’t have any interest in Rose or Swift, though either may be used in a sign-and-trade scenario. Mason, an Oklahoma State product, could be a possibility if he’s healthy. With so much room for improvement, the team is looking for veteran depth at all positions on the affordable side.
Player News:
• G Russell Westbrook grew up in Los Angeles, so his playoff memories revolve around the Lakers. The titles from 2000-2002 still hold a special place.
“Shaq (O’Neal) and Kobe (Bryant) when they won the three-peat,” Westbrook said. “I went to a playoff game when they played Sacramento. It was exciting. It was a different level.”
• F Kevin Durant said Michael Jordan left an indelible mark 11 years ago. Jordan’s shot to beat Utah in Game 6 of the 1998 Finals still resonates with Durant.
“I was watching that game and I was thinking to myself, ‘There’s no way he’s going to hit that shot,’” Durant said. “But after that move he made, and he made it in a tough Utah arena and they won a championship. That will always stick in my head. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to play in the playoffs and make some of my own memories.”
• F D.J. White wishes summer league could get going already. After an abbreviated rookie season cut short by surgeries, the power forward wants to get back on the court.
“I’m ready to go right now,” White said. “I only played in seven games. I have a lot of energy. The plan is to keep working out and then play in Orlando.”
Medical Watch:
• G Desmond Mason is expected to make a full recovery. He’ll be ready for training camp if he remains with the team.
The Thunder will have the third pick in the NBA Draft, up one spot from the pre-lottery position of fourth. Oklahoma City native Blake Griffin, who would have been a perfect fit with his hometown team, is headed to the lottery-winning Clippers.
Based on draft projections, the Thunder will likely choose between UConn center Hasheen Thabeet and Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio. Memphis has the No. 2 pick. Early reports, however, say Rubio’s camp has no interest in playing for a small-market team like Memphis or OKC.
The Thunder’s front office isn’t worried about such talk just yet. The team goes into the draft dealing from a position of strength with multiple picks and plenty of cap room.
“Having the third pick for us is a lot better than having the fourth,” general manager Sam Presti said. “And when you have No. 3 you wish you had No. 2, but this is definitely a great position for us to be in.
“I think we’ll definitely get some phone calls and we’ll have some options. We also like the group of players that will be there, so I’m excited.”
More so than selecting on need or using the “best-available player” chestnut, Presti is looking for a certain type of makeup in whomever the Thunder pick.
“Does he fit the culture we’re trying to create and have established? Does he fit the way we want to play? Those are the things that we’ll be dialed into,” Presti said. “All we can do is pick the best player that we think will help us and fit our team.”
Season Highlight: Kevin Durant was easily the star of the early portion of All-Star weekend. The sensational sophomore scored 46 in the Rookie Challenge game and won the league’s first H-O-R-S-E competition. For those who doubted Durant’s star potential, this was his time to shine.
Turning Point: The 1-12 start cost P.J. Carlesimo his job and morphed into a 3-29 record that had many wondering if the Thunder would post the worst record in NBA history. Oklahoma City then followed with a 6-3 stretch and stayed relatively competitive the rest of the season.
Roster Report
Most Valuable Player: Kevin Durant. The second-year small forward turned in a spectacular season, even if few noticed, to firmly cement himself as the franchise player. Durant finished sixth in the league in scoring at more than 25 points per game. He also grabbed 6.5 boards and dished out nearly three assists a night.
Most Disappointing Player: Robert Swift. The injury-plagued center was never able to get on track, despite given every opportunity to earn a spot in the rotation. The former lottery pick played in just 26 games, averaging only 13 minutes. He heads into free agency looking for a new team.
Free Agent Focus: Malik Rose, Desmond Mason and Robert Swift are free agents. The team likely doesn’t have any interest in Rose or Swift, though either may be used in a sign-and-trade scenario. Mason, an Oklahoma State product, could be a possibility if he’s healthy. With so much room for improvement, the team is looking for veteran depth at all positions on the affordable side.
Getting Inside
The interim title was lifted off Scott Brooks, who will go into next season as the Thunder’s full-time coach. Brooks led Oklahoma City to a 22-47 record after the 1-12 start under former coach P.J. Carlesimo.
Brooks tweaked the lineup, built the offense around the core of Kevin Durant(notes), Russell Westbrook(notes) and Jeff Green(notes), and the team responded with several impressive wins down the stretch.
“He’s focused on putting a brand of basketball on the court that is about the team first,” general manager Sam Presti said, “about playing both ends and competing and continuing to build the identity of the basketball team.”
Presti didn’t deny considering outside coaches for the job, but ultimately settled on Brooks. The players, including Durant, were also in Brooks’ corner.
“I’ve always believed that you work hard, and you do everything in your power the right way and you treat everybody with respect and things will work out,” Brooks said. “My focus from Nov. 22 was to make our players better, to get our team playing a good brand of basketball. I never thought one iota about myself.”
Brooks now has an offseason to implement his system fully. The franchise owns multiple first-round picks, plus plenty of cap space to work with. In addition to the players, Brooks also plans to improve before next season.
“One of the things that I really liked about Scott is he not only expects his players to come back better from the summer, he expects to come back better himself,” Presti said. “He has a passion for the game, a passion for this organization and we feel like he’s going to come back and get better as a coach and grow with our team.”
• It wasn’t always smooth during Year 1 in Oklahoma City, but the Thunder appear to be on the right track going forward with a talented nucleus and plenty of roster flexibility. The franchise has seven first-round picks in the next three years, including two this summer, and a ton of cap space.
Kevin Durant took a quantum leap from his Rookie of the Year campaign to establish himself as a budding All-Star. Rookie point guard Russell Westbrook took the reins and got better as the season went on. Jeff Green might have been playing out of position at power forward, but the second-year pro figures to be a solid rotation piece for years come.
A few additions/reclamation projects made during the season also show promise moving forward. Nenad Krstic(notes) returned from Europe to give the frontline another scorer. Chicago castoff Thabo Sefolosha(notes) could have Bruce Bowen(notes)-like impact for the team’s perimeter defense. One-time lottery pick Shaun Livingston(notes) looks to be working his way back to health and a prominent bench role.
The Thunder got off to a 1-12 start, fired coach P.J. Carlesimo and elevated Scott Brooks to the top job on an interim basis. The team continued to struggle before turning things around as the calendar flipped to 2009.
Brooks’ patient approach and key position changes emphasized scoring and athleticism. Durant thrived as a small forward, opening up the floor for everyone else. The Ford Center, rocking all season, became increasingly tougher on opponents. Oklahoma City won 12 of its last 18 at home.
Season Highlight: Kevin Durant was easily the star of the early portion of All-Star weekend. The sensational sophomore scored 46 in the Rookie Challenge game and won the league’s first H-O-R-S-E competition. For those who doubted Durant’s star potential, this was his time to shine.
Turning Point: The 1-12 start cost P.J. Carlesimo his job and morphed into a 3-29 record that had many wondering if the Thunder would post the worst record in NBA history. Oklahoma City then followed with a 6-3 stretch and stayed relatively competitive the rest of the season.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)—Facing a daunting four-game road trip to finish the season, the string holding up the Charlotte Bobcats’ postseason hopes seemed bound to snap eventually.
Kevin Durant and the Thunder took care of that in the final home game of their inaugural season in Oklahoma City.
Durant had 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead three players with double-doubles, and the Thunder knocked the Bobcats out of playoff contention with an 84-81 victory Friday night.
The Bobcats, who already were assured of their best record in franchise history, would have needed four straight road wins to finish the season—and coach Larry Brown said his team didn’t come out with the kind of energy needed in such a “life-and-death” game.
“It’s new for us,” Brown said. “I don’t think they had that in their mind. In their mind, I’m sure they thought they were out there trying. But you can’t go on the road and not play with unbelievable effort right from the start.”
The Bobcats charged back from a 14-point, second-half deficit and took the lead before succumbing down the stretch.
Nenad Krstic added 19 points, Jeff Green had 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Russell Westbrook had 10 points and 11 assists for Oklahoma City.
D.J. Augustin led the Bobcats with 20 points, including a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left that got Charlotte within 83-81. Green then swatted away a runner by Raymond Felton and Krstic corralled the rebound on the floor with 2.2 seconds left.
After Durant went 1-for-2 from the foul line, Vladimir Radmanovic had one last shot at the tie, but his whirling 3-pointer missed off the front rim.
“We had chances at the end. We missed D.J. wide open, took a bad shot, missed a layup, got a shot blocked at the end,” Brown said. “I thought we did a lot of good things, but just put ourselves in too big a hole and you’ve got to give them credit.
“The crowd was great, they played with a lot of energy and I thought they did a tremendous job of blocking shots and clogging up the inside and making us shoot outside jumpers, and that’s not our game.”
The Thunder played in front of their eighth straight home sellout and snapped a six-game losing streak at the Ford Center. Oklahoma City had 10 blocked shots, one off of its most of the season, and got four in the fourth quarter.
“We did a great job of closing and getting stops at the end of the game,” Westbrook said. “Jeff had a great block.”
Boris Diaw added 19 points, Felton scored 11 and Gerald Wallace had 10 points and 14 rebounds for Charlotte.
Even being in the playoff hunt in the final week of the season was an accomplishment for the Bobcats, who started the season 7-18. Diaw and Raja Bell came over in a trade with Phoenix late in that stretch, and Charlotte has gone 28-26 since that awful start.
“We made a lot of changes to the team, and guys have started to jell well,” Augustin said. “We keep fighting. We’re going to keep fighting to the end, no matter what.”
Diaw and Augustin combined to score 17 during a 19-6 run that cut the deficit to 62-61 on Augustin’s 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in the third period.
Felton’s jumper from the left side capped a stretch of six straight Bobcats points and put Charlotte ahead 67-66 with 10:12 left, its first lead since it was 2-0. That was the first of six lead changes over the next 5 minutes.
Charlotte Bobcats forward Boris Diaw, right, shoots over Oklahoma City Thunder center Nenad Krstic, of Serbia, left, in the second quarter of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Friday, April 10, 2009. Diaw had 19 points for Charlotte, but Oklahoma City won the game 84-81.
Rookie D.J. White scored inside to put Oklahoma City up 72-71 with 5 1/2 minutes left, and Durant added a 3-pointer from the right wing before Shaun Livingston’s jumper on the left baseline. The Thunder protected that lead the rest of the way.
“Down the line, everybody played well and chipped in,” Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. “They all played extremely hard. I told the guys after the game they gave it their all.”
Charlotte, 12-26 on the road this season, would have needed a remarkable finish to earn its first playoff appearance.
In part because of an equestrian event at Charlotte’s home arena that team owner Bob Johnson’s daughter will compete in, the Bobcats are the first team to finish the regular season with four straight road games since the Toronto Raptors 12 years ago. Charlotte also needed Chicago or Detroit to lose all of their games the rest of the way.
The final three games of that stretch won’t matter nearly as much now, after the Bobcats shot just 33 percent and couldn’t capitalize on 24 Thunder turnovers, including a season-high nine by rookie Westbrook.
Charlotte Bobcats guard Gerald Wallace, right, drives around Oklahoma City Thunder forward Thabo Sefolosha, of Switzerland, left, in the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Friday, April 10, 2009. Wallace had 10 points for Charlotte, but Oklahoma City won the game 84-81.
“It’s a process of learning what those games mean, and you don’t really know until you miss it,” Diaw said. “It’s a tough way to learn.”
The Thunder emerged with a 48-37 lead at halftime despite committing 15 turnovers—seven by Westbrook—by shooting 55 percent in a first half filled with spurts. Oklahoma City led 56-42 after Kyle Weaver’s driving, left-handed layup early in the second half before Charlotte started its comeback.
Oklahoma City had an early burst of nine straight points and was up by eight before Charlotte responded with a 10-2 run to tie the game at 17. Oklahoma City then scored the final 10 points of the first quarter on its way to building a 39-25 lead.
“We got better and better during the season,” Diaw said. “We definitely had a rough start, but I think it’s good for the future. We’ve got a pretty young team and we’re working hard and getting better.”
