oklahoma Page 44 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Howard Schultz Gave Out $3.50 Starbucks Gift Cards: An Insider's Notes On The Shabby Death Of The Seattle SuperSonics
For those fans who believe that the only acceptable NBA champion is any team that's not the Miami Heat, the tempting choice is Oklahoma City. The Thunder have Kevin Durant's superlative set of skills, Russell Westbrook's freakish athleticism, and James Harden's 1840s prospector's beard. They are you...

Metta World Peace's Elbow Waged War On James Harden's Head
Metta World Peace earned an ejection from today's Lakers-Thunder game when his celebration after a second-quarter dunk included an elbow to the side of James Harden's head. ...

There's A New Dunk Of The Year Candidate, And It's This Durant-To-Westbrook Alley-Oop
Okay, so we're getting a bit repetitive. First this was the dunk of the year, then this was in the running too. Yeah, yeah, they're all great dunks, and so is this one, from the second quarter of tonight's Thunder-Kings tussle in Oklahoma City. What's it got going for it? Well, it's a lob, and wh...

You Can't Stop Kevin Durant, But You Can Force Him To His Right
Durant is known for being able to go left or right, and finish with either hand. The data shows that to be true from near the basket and from midrange. But if you can keep KD on the perimeter, he's significantly more likely to beat you from the left....

Report: Basketball Hero Skip Bayless Actually Averaged 1.4 Points Per Game As A High School Senior
About a week ago, we told you about the high school exploits of "starting point guard" Skip Bayless. According to Skip, he started for the team that would eventually lose in the state finals. Turns out, Skip Bayless is a fibber. Or, maybe his coach just had an unconventional way of constructing his...

Russell Westbrook High-Fives Omer Asik As He Dunks Over Him
Keep your eye on Westbrook's left hand just after he takes flight. It's almost like he's thanking Asik for helping to make this dunk look so ferociously special....

Skip Bayless: High School Sports Hero
Earlier today via Twitter, Skip Bayless was talking about his favorite "hometown" team, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Specifically, Skip was discussing how to fix the Oklahoma City Thunder. Long story short, he wants to play Russell Westbrook on the wing and make James Harden the point guard....

Here's The First Authentic Smile In Los Angeles Since The Birth Of The Film Industry
The Lakers threw Derek Fisher a party upon his return to Los Angeles, only to see their esteemed guest have his cake and eat it too. The Thunder escaped from L.A. with a 102-93 victory, and Fisher played his part by scoring seven points in his first seven minutes of action after entering the game i...

Oklahoma State Gambled Millions That Its Boosters Would Die, And Lost
For billionaire businessman and Oklahoma State sugar daddy T. Boone Pickens, only two things are certain: wind and death. Well, the wind farm didn't work, and neither did Pickens's genius fundraiser idea to take out life insurance policies on some of OSU's richest and most elderly donors....

Rob Lowe Is Literally The Biggest OKC Thunder Fan In The World
Your morning roundup for Feb. 24. Photo via ESPN/Getty. Got any stories or photos for us? Tip your editors. ...

How Did This Personalized Note From Kevin Durant End Up On The Floor Of A University Of Texas Bathroom?
Homer Rainey Hall is an unassuming administrative building in the middle of UT's Austin Campus. It largely contains offices for professors in the school's language department, but today it contains a mystery....

An Oklahoma Football Coach Is Offering Full-Ride Scholarships Via Twitter
That's Jay Norvell, Oklahoma's co-offensive coordinator and receivers coach, making his pitch to Rashaad Samples, a junior wide receiver from Dallas, sometime earlier today. I called the number and got a generic voicemail after two rings, which is to be expected. The NCAA tsk-tsks contact of this ki...

ESPN's Bio For Serge Ibaka Does Not Know Which African Country He's From
Serge Ibaka is great! He had a triple-double (14 points, 15 rebounds, 11 blocks) last night in the Thunder's 124-118 overtime win over the Nuggets. But the Worldwide Leader, reader Morgan writes in, is shortchanging Ibaka's around-the-world origin....

Kendrick Perkins Says LeBron Is "Always Looking For Attention" Because "He Wants The World To Like Him"
You will recall that Blake Griffin dunked on Kendrick Perkins not so long ago. One rarely dunks on a player of Perkins's height and reputed toughness, so it was a big thing. Kevin Durant said Griffin's dunk was not a dunk—making him the clubhouse leader in petulance—but here comes Perk himself!...

Oklahoma's Steven Pledger Prematurely Celebrated His Game-Tying Buzzer-Beater That Didn't Go In
It can't feel good to lose, especially in front of an empty arena. But it takes a certain amount of hubris—beyond the amount we're comfortable with, at least—to celebrate a shot before it goes in, especially if that shot wouldn't even win you the game. Then it doesn't go in, and all the sympathy ...

The Mavs Were So Fed Up With The Officiating, Rick Carlisle Kicked A Ball Off A Little Kid's Head
The Thunder took 33 trips to the line, and the Mavericks didn't think that was particularly fair. "We attack the basket strong and didn't get anything," said Shawn Marion. "They call ticky-tack down on the other end."...

Kevin Durant Was Not Impressed By Blake Griffin's Dunk, Which He Says Was Also Not A Dunk
We thought we settled this Tuesday morning, but KD's back today to rag on Blake's bonkers dunk over Kendrick Perkins:...

Russell Westbrook's Dunk Attempt Did Not Go As Smoothly As Blake Griffin's
This might be a bit tough to watch after seeing Blake Griffin consume and excrete Kendrick Perkins, but every yang needs a yin and if there's anything other than that dunk to serve as synecdoche for last night's 112-100 Clippers win over Oklahoma City, it's Russell Westbrook being stuffed by the ...

Blake Griffin Just Dunked On The Entire Perkins Family Tree
It's only halfway through the abbreviated NBA season, so I'm hesitant to dub anything dunk of the year. But here it is, dunk of the year—and of course it's from Blake Griffin. Kendrick Perkins's family requests no flowers be sent. [NBA TV]...
