| 15 October 2009
They might not win a whole lot of games, and they definitely won't make the playoffs, but man are the Oklahoma City Thunder going to be a fun team to watch. The amount of young talent this team has is extraordinary - Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Serge Ibaka - all exciting players, all in their early twenties. They're going to turn the ball over alot, and miss alot of shots, but the Thunder will be entertaining for sure. Especially that Durant kid, who did this recently to my fellow Canadian, Joel Anthony:
The only team that might be able to challenge OKC in the best-young-talent department is the Golden State Warriors, whose ranks include Andris Biedrins, Stephen Curry, Monta Ellis, Anthony Morrow, Anthony Randolph and the oft-injured Brandan Wright. In fact, looking at that list of talent, the Warriors definitely have more young talent than the Thunder. However, that being said, the Thunder are in a much better position to capitalize on this talent. You see, the Thunder don't entrust their young talent to a mad scientist, contrarian coach like Don Nelson, who seems poised to pack up and retire on a whim. And they don't appoint as team captain a player who fires guns in strip club parking lots, brawls in the stands in Detroit and likes to demand trades. So the Thunder and the Warriors, despite having similar levels of young talent, couldn't be more night and day. With all the turmoil surrounding the Warriors, there is no way that team and its young talent will be able to succeed and develop properly. You see, young players are like children in the fact that they need structure, stability and good role models in order to excel. The Warriors are lacking in all three categories.
Meanwhile, hidden in middle America, the Thunder should blossom. No drama. Out of the glare of the national media. No big name coach that will steal the headlines (dare you to name their coach without looking it up first). A few veterans on the team that will be good examples to the young guns plus won't take up too much of their playing time or shots. A star player who has a great personality, wants to work hard on his craft and seems to be as down-to-earth as you will find among athletes. Assuming Kevin Durant doesn't injury himself riding a moped or gets into a gun fight at Covergirls, OKC's future's so bright they gotta wear shades.
The moral of this serman - while you need talent to win in the NBA, character also counts (and don't trust someone with a gun tattooed on his stomach?).
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