Mark Daigneault on playing most of the series without Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell:
"We have not been an excuse team ever and we're not gonna start now."
"If we were taking the most available excuse at any point, we wouldn't be here."
Chet Holmgren:
“Ego has been the downfall of many people’s careers. I feel like ego gets in the way of maximizing the moment and also understanding. Basically, what you’re asking me is, would I trade what we just accomplished last year and the opportunity that we have (this year) and the group that we have? Would I sacrifice that to go be able to shoot 20 shots a game? I don’t think so.”
(Via @FredKatz )
"Does [Shai] sell calls sometimes? Absolutely, but so do 287 other players in the NBA sell calls... When they weren't a championship contender... nobody was complaining. They're complaining now because they're winning."
Mike Breen on SGA.
(via @dpshow)
The Oklahoma City Thunder completely owned the state of California this season.
Final record against California teams:
🔻8-0 vs Lakers
🔻4-0 vs Warriors
🔻3-0 vs Clippers
🔻3-0 vs Kings
18-0 TOTAL.
What makes it even crazier is how dominant they looked doing it.
Elite defense.
Depth everywhere.
Constant pressure offensively.
The Thunder didn’t just beat California teams. They erased them. After another sweep over the Lakers, Oklahoma City keeps looking more and more like the team to beat in the NBA.
OKC salary dumps Isaiah Hartenstein to the Chicago Bulls for a future 1st to lower their luxury tax bill. NBA fans celebrate.
Then they introduce to the rotation…
Thomas Sorber. 🙃