Sam Presti on Thunder Media Day today: “I also want to take a moment to congratulate Russell [Westbrook] on just an unbelievable career. A Hall of Fame career. We are very fortunate that a lot of those years took place in Oklahoma City.”
Somehow, OKC came out of this presser with two second round picks
Just flipped those 2 for 5 future first rounds and a bag of basketballs
How long before a Russ statue goes up outside Continental Coliseum? I’d guess under 3 years.
Russ’s Jersey retirement is gonna have that place going NUTS too, I hope it happens next season when theyre playing the Rockets.
They are also planning on publicly kicking 2-3 fans out in his honor
I volunteer as tribute
I watched him get an 8 year old kicked outta ball arena, then toss his dad for good measure.
Ngl this kind of got me all fucked up 🤣🤣😭
Lmaoooo excellent
Against the Rockets for sure. KD will cry like a baby waaah waaah and Russell will just cup KDs mouth like “Hey man stop crying lil bro” and KD will run from the stadium crying like a baby waaah waaah
Yo ankle heal up bro heres some weed and choco milk
OKC just seems like they do this shit right. Idk man. It’s crazy how ‘new’ they are and I don’t think they’ve been bad their entire existence.
I mean it kinda helps the inherited KD from the Sonics. They didn’t start brand new like most other franchises
They inherited Westbrook from the Sonics too, they weren’t the Thunder yet when they drafted him
Yeah I can definitely see why Seattle is so bitter. This should have been the Sonics team. I really hope they get the Sonics back when the NBA expands again.
Funny enough they also technically got Russ from the Sonics and he was the last player ever drafted by them
Serge Ibaka was also drafted by the Sonics.
they’ve only been bad when they’ve meant to. tanked in 2009, 2021 and 2022. Otherwise they’ve been at least trying to win, if not elite.
In 2009 they won 28 games. In 2023 they won 40 games. they’ve never won between 29-39 games in a season. they’ve existed for 17 years and made at least the WCF 6 times.
Presti is very knowledgeable about basketball and ownership gets out of the way and lets him make all the decisions. It quite literally is that simple.
Ownership being cheap is a big reason why they traded Harden
I would say it was more about role. He was an elite 6th man in OKC but wanted to be a starter with starter money. Houston was willing to start him.
I’d have a few choice words for you if I hadn’t made my peace with what happened.
i mean yes they do it right their ownership and management are incredible but also they tanked for years after getting shai and stockpiled on picks so they could get their entire core they have today on great deals
Is Russ bigger in OKC than Shai?
Imo yea he is but only because he kept us from wanting to jump off a cliff after kd left. Sga got us a championship, but russ was the light in what was the darkest moment in thunder history so far. I may even say its a tie Oklahoma is big enough to have 2 favorite sons. They’re both 1 but for different reasons.
Also because they had Russ PG wanted to come there which directly led to them getting SGA, he might not have had the most success of all the OKC players but they can attribute all their success to him pretty directly.
Didn’t even consider that you’re absolutely right.
You can also say that KD leaving caused that in the first place, that means he’s higher on the list than Westbrook for them
Great butterfly effect logic
you can’t just ignore the part where he said he saved them from jumping off a cliff lol
russ was loyal when we could have left for greener pastures
in a few years it will prob be Shai as the fav. he has a lot more to give to the city
Maybe we’ll see but personally for me though he won’t. I love sga but russ is like nostalgic for me. He was here from the beginning. I also was attending games alot more back then so saw russ live so that probably weighs in on it also. I’ve never got to go to a game since sga due to everything getting so expensive.
I do wonder, if Russ had the supporting cast that SGA currently has, would he have had a legitimate chance to contend for a title in his prime?
The sad part was Russ’ prime post-KD lasted like maybe 2-3 years? So the window would have been really small but as good as SGA is, a large part of why he’s able to be so efficient is that the team around him is so much better than what Russ had after KD/Harden both left.
We’ll never know but that would’ve been must see tv him playing with this group. I think they could’ve went for one. But I’m biased.
At this point probably not, but Russ was there for a very long time and from the very beginning of Thunder basketball. I feel like the age of fan you’re asking probably matters there a bit when you factor that part.
Shai will be much bigger eventually for sure.
Nah, winning that ring is going to be the good times for a lot of people.
“Journey” vs “destination” it seems
Shai had a great journey
if he had a ring maybe, still top 3 fs tho
Pretext: I wish r/NBA allowed dual flairs. It’s tough. Russ was that dude for so long. I personally like him more than Shai. However, Shai brought the first ring to the city and has more accolades. I can see how a case can made for both depending on who you ask. Could be an age and nostalgia thing. Could be vibes. Could be rangs. Wouldn’t fault anyone choosing either.
Depends on how old you are
No
Yes, not because of the basketball but what he has meant to the community and the time it took place. He played the inaugural season in OKC and then all the investments like the new soccer stadium
Obviously Shai is bigger for the franchise, but I would guess more fans have Westbrook as their favorite player of all time over Shai
Not an OKC fan but I can’t imagine. He’s second by a huge margin though.
Not even close
Russ jersey retirement against Houston sure would smack
They better give Russ a statue
Russ gets way too much heatPeople are shameless, he is a legend and deserving of his flowers
Sign him you coward
recognition!
awesome
His stans are sure he can still play at a high level but OKC won’t even offer him a contract lol
577k karma on a year old acct go outside brother
Got him with a quickness
Perks of working remote. I get paid to hate on Westbrick
that’s not the flex you think it is
Least annoying Lakers fan
I was feeling bad about actually having a job that contributes to society and requires you to be in the world. Better than some dork vibe coding and talking sportsball all day lol
Fucking loser
A true hater would do it for free
You can still delete this
what’s a loser 😭
So you a grown man?? Act like it then
More like Kendrick Perkins of working remote
I’d deadass kms if I ever had an inkling of typing that combination of words because my life must have so little upside
How much u make
Why are you assuming that Russ asked for a contract from them? The reporting is that he had offers but he likely would have been deep on a team’s bench, which he didn’t want.
😂 notice how no team brings him back for year 2? He’s done
The Clippers did and the Wizards contract he got offered this offseason was a 2 year deal.
What does that have to do with what we were talking about though? Russ doesn’t want to just be a mentor on the end of somebody’s bench, so he retired.
Don’t expect any logical reasoning from Lakers fans
See mentor on someone’s bench is all he can do. Outside of that, he’s detrimental to any team trying to actually compete.
The glee when trashing players like Russ is just so weird. Its like your brain just cant comprehend anything beyond my-team-is-better type of thinking
“Wow he got old what a loser, so funny”- from a probably overweight and poor Redditor to a hall-of-fame NBA player
He’s washed. You dispute that?
No bro, Lakers fans just hate on him for no reason
It just was “a bad fit.”
1 year on the Clippers- gone
1 year on the Nuggets- gone
1 year on the Kings- gone
If he was so good why nobody want to sign him? It’s funny everybody want Westbrook in the league just not on the team they root for
How do you know they didn’t offer?
577k karma? Bro is an elite Aura farmer