Tag: San Antonio Spurs

Will KD really ever be accepted in Oklahoma?

Kevin Durant by every account is the kind of NBA superstar a league could build its foundation upon.

Unfailingly polite. Religious. A team player. And he even has an air of mystery as we try to figure out what he carries in his ever-present backpack.

Durant is the future of the NBA after leading the league in scoring last season and taking the upstart Oklahoma City Thunder to the Western Conference Finals. With a young core on his roster, it’s not out of the realm of possibility to believe the Thunder  and Durant could be among the NBA elite for a number of years.

Despite Durant’s talents, he has one character flaw that many Oklahoma fans will never forgive him for. Namely, he attended the University of Texas for one year and has the audacity to flash the “hook’em” sign and brag of his old school’s football exploits.

It started when he arrived with the rest of the Seattle SuperSonics when they arrived in 2008. 

Oklahoman beat writer Darnell Mayberry reported that Durant on his first day.

At that year’s Thunder media day, Durant said he “loves being in Oklahoma thus far and I’m going to love playing for (the people here).”

Durant then was asked if he could ever root for the Sooners.

“Never,” Durant vowed.

He’s lived up to his words during his time in the area. He’s attended OU football games, adding the phrase “Hook ‘em Horns” to each autograph he’s signed while at Owen Field.

Durant has sat courtside at OU basketball games and flashed the two-finger Hook ‘em Horns sign. He’s even taken his needling the Sooners and Bob Stoops on Twitter. On Saturday, Durant posted a simple but damning message that raised the hackles of Sooner Nation with :

“LSU OU…”

It’s even caught the attention of the Sooners, who fell behind LSU in both major polls after last week’s games.

OU sophomore defensive back Tony Jefferson had aon this tweet:  

“Kevin Durant. Please stop talking trash about the sooners.. You play in Oklahoma. Regardless if you went to Texas. We support u 🙁 “

Mayberry provides a lengthy and impassioned defense on why Durant should be able to support his old school.

But the limits of freedom of speech apparently don’t stretch very far.

Particularly in Oklahoma among OU fans.

Spurs’ first three preseason games scrapped

Due to the ongoing labor battle between owners and players union, the NBA formally announced this afternoon what most had suspected for days or weeks:

Neither training camps nor the preseason will start at the scheduled time.

Per a news release this morning, the NBA has indefinitely suspended the start of camp, originally slated to open Oct. 4, while also cancelling some 43 preseason games through Oct. 15.

“We have regretfully reached the point on the calendar where we are not able to open training camps on time and need to cancel the first week of preseason games,” NBA deputy commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.  “We will make further decisions as warranted.”

Among the carnage was the Spurs’ first three exhibition games — Oct. 9 against New Orleans, Oct. 11 at Sacramento and Oct. 15 at home against the Kings. For now, the earliest the Spurs might open the preseason is Oct. 17 against Cleveland.

The team’s website, , has already been amended to reflect the changes.

According to published reports, league officials are planning to revisit the schedule on Oct. 1 to decide if the rest of the month must also be scrapped.

Blog brothers analyze Spurs’ 2K12 playing grades

To a big segment of the NBA’s viewership, the release of the ratings for NBA 2K12 games was a big deal.

Twitter accounts were buzzing as the ratings across the league were released Wednesday. LeBron James had the highest score of any NBA player with a 98. Dirk Nowitzki, who thoroughly outplayed James as his team won the NBA Finals, claimed an 85.

Jesse Blanchard of 48 Minutes of Hell.com has a little better handle on these ratings than me. He breaks down what the Spurs ratings mean in this that accompanies the recent release of the game. Project Spurs  analyst Jeff Garcia also provides his.

While we’re in suspended animation today as the Rosh Hashanah holiday has shelved lockout negotiations for the day.

Here are a few Spurs-related posts from across the blogosphere to get you ready for Friday’s return to the negotiating table.

  • Robby Lim of Spurs World.com writes that cutting Richard Jefferson for the rumored amnesty provision of the league’s new collective bargaining agreement .
  • The posters at Real GM.com weigh the merits of Tim Duncan as the .
  • We missed this one during our engrossment with the Big 12 realignment saga, but Michael DeLeon of Spurs Nation.com provides his ever-cogent analysis in .
  • Graydon Gordian and Andrew McNeill of 48 Minutes of Hell.com take to the podcast platform to once the lockout ends.
  • BJ1dr of Pounding the Rock.com for the Spurs  future.
  • Bill Simmons of Grantland.com analyzes that no team would be as in the upcoming season as the Spurs.
  • Spurs director of media services Tom James to catch up with one-time Spurs fan favorite Tom Copa.   
  • Steve Kerr tells Ryan Kartje of USA Today of the , including his 1999 and 2003 rings earned with the Spurs.
  • Nate Timmons of the always entertaining Denver Stiffs.com provides a tidy blog  roll of, including the Spurs.
  • Shawn Cayley of the Toronto Star was there when , Pickering High School in the Toronto area.
  • Nigel Broadnax of the Bleacher Report of every Spurs player.
  • Jefferson’s name popped up in Robin Leach’s gossip column in the Las Vegas Sun after he participated in a at the Cosmopolitan Casino.