Kevin Durant says the Thunder “wasn’t ready” to be contenders back when the franchise first burst onto the NBA stage.
Could be. Not necessarily wrong. Makes sense.
But Durant didn’t mean himself and Russell Westbrook. Serge Ibaka and James Harden.
Durant meant Clay Benentt and Sam Presti.
Oh brother.
Kevin Durant, Billy Donovan
Kevin Durant said the Thunder “wasn’t ready” to be contenders back when the franchise first burst onto the NBA stage. Sue Ogrocki, AP file
Kevin Durant can’t let it go. He can’t stay out of Thunder hot water. Can’t wish the organization, city and state well without a few firebombs that will anger millions of Oklahomans.
On the “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash and LeBron James, after the Thunder’s NBA championship win on June 22, Durant reflected on OKC’s 2011-16 run of contention, which included the 2012 NBA Finals, won by the Miami Heat in five games.
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“I think we exceeded expectations with that team,” Durant said. And he was right. But then Durant went 40 bridges too far.
“When you reach the Finals and you go through a run like that so quick, I don’t think a GM or owner was ready for that,” Durant said.
Here we go again. Durant blaming Presti for his roster-building and Bennett, I suppose, for his financial decisions.
Durant has done what so many fans do. Fallen into the trap of believing that championships are won in July, when rosters turn over, or February, with the trade deadline.
But no. Championships are won in June, not in meeting rooms and not on telephones, but on hardwood floors, with a roundball being dribbled and shot, passed and defended.
The Saturday ScissorTales rank the American Athletic Conference quarterbacks for 2025, take a look at the nonsensical trash talking of Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos and check in on Joey Chestnut’s latest hot-dog eating title. But we start with Durant’s continual insistence to blame others for not winning a Thunder title.
Here’s more of Durant’s theory.
“A team that’s 22, 23, we sped up the timeline,” he said. “All of us. Each individual player. Serge, he came out of nowhere, became the best shotblocker in the league. I’m averaging 30 at 21 years old. Russell was 22 years old, was an all-star. James, Sixth Man (of the Year) at 21.
“So we exceeded the timeline. They wasn’t ready for that. That’s just my theory, I don’t know exactly what Sam was thinking or the owner. But my theory is, I don’t think they was ready for us to be contenders every year.
“Since we reached the Finals, you’re supposed to upgrade and fine tune and make changes around. You just can’t pull key figures off your team and expect us to continue to do what we was doing.”
Losing Harden would be a prime example. Before the 2012-13 season, the Thunder brass feared the cost of having to give Harden a maximum contract on the heels of doing so for Durant and Westbrook, plus the decision-makers wondered if the three precocious stars could co-exist long-term.
History has proven the Thunder would have been better off biting the financial bullet, but it also has proven that the Thunder was correct to worry about chemistry. Chemistry eventually blew up the Durant/Westbrook partnership; Harden would have made for quite the witches’ brew.
But outside of Harden, where did the Thunder roster wither? Presti drafted Steven Adams, who became a better Kendrick Perkins, and Andre Roberson, who eventually replaced Thabo Sefolosha quite adequately (yes, quite adequately), and Reggie Jackson, who became a solid sixth man and saved the Thunder in the postseason more than Harden ever did.
Those Thunder teams weren’t deep, but playoff rotations are shortened.
The Thunder lost to the Heatles in 2012, were wiped out by Westbrook’s playoff meniscus injury in 2013, were beaten by a great Spurs team in 2014, were ruined by season-long injuries in 2015 and were beaten by a 73-win Warriors team in 2016.
The story of the Durant-era Thunder is nothing close to a story of mismanagement. Presti’s roster-building was superb.
Yet here goes Durant.
“I just think they was kind of shocked how good we got so fast,” Durant said. “Sometimes you get confused. Sam Presti was probably what, 30something years old? Everybody was young, trying to figure stuff out, trying to understand what this landscape was. It was too fast. We were ahead of our time. Everything happened too quickly.”
Suns Durants Debut Basketball
Kevin Durant on the “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash and LeBron James: “I think we exceeded expectations with that team,” he said about his stint in Oklahoma City. Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP file
Let’s be brutally honest. The Thunder failed to win a title in the Durant era for three reasons: 1) Facing historically great teams twice; 2) Bad luck with injuries; 3) Star who didn’t get the job done.
Let’s go back to May 28, 2016. Everyone remembers it as the Klay Thompson game. Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. The Thunder had a 3-2 series lead, and the Thunder had a 83-75 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Everyone remembers that as the night Golden State’s Thompson scored 41 points with a playoff-record 11 3-pointers. He had 19 points, with 5-of-6 3-point shooting, in the fourth quarter alone. The Thunder had just 18 points in that period.
But even Thompson’s blitzkrieg didn’t sink the Thunder. OKC led 94-87 with 5:48 left after an Adams foul shot. OKC led 97-92 with 4:48 left after a Roberson foul shot. OKC led 99-96 and had possession, with three minutes left in the game.
Three minutes left, a 3-point game and possession. Against one of the best teams in NBA history. Tell me how Presti and Bennett failed the Thunder.
In those final three minutes, the Thunder scored two points, on a Roberson putback.
In those final three minutes, Durant missed two shots and committed a turnover. In those final three minutes, Westbrook missed a shot and committed four turnovers.
Golden State won 108-101 and closed out the Thunder in Game 7 two nights later.
In a home game to get the Thunder to the NBA Finals, Durant shot 10-of-31 from the field and Westbrook shot 10-of-27.They combined for eight turnovers.
Presti, with Bennett’s OK, built a roster that consistently contended for an NBA championship. And when that title was most there for the taking, the Thunder superstars went splat. Durant and Westbrook are the ones who didn’t seem ready to win it all.
Kirk Francis firmly in command of TU offense as spring reaches midpoint (copy)
Berry Tramel ranked Tulsa’s Kirk Francis the 10th best quarterback in the AAC. Stephen Pingry, Tulsa World
The List: Ranking the AAC quarterbacks
It’s more difficult than ever for college football teams to hang on to their quarterbacks, and that’s certainly true in the American Athletic Conference. But the transfer portal giveth and taketh away. Only six of the 14 AAC teams return their starting quarterback from 2024, but others have fortified with the portal.
Here’s how the AAC quarterbacks rank going into the 2025 season:
1. Blake Horvath, Navy: Last season, the optioneer threw for 1,353 yards and rushed for 1,246, leading the Midshipmen to a 10-3 season, including a 21-20 victory over OU in the Armed Forces Bowl.
2. Owen McCown, Texas-San Antonio: Started three games as a Colorado true freshman in 2022, then transferred to UTSA and has become a star. Last season, the son of former NFL quarterback Josh McCown threw for 3,424 yards, with 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
3. Caden Veltkamp, Florida Atlantic: The 2024 Conference USA offensive player of the year at Western Kentucky threw for 3,108 yards and 25 touchdowns (with just 10 interceptions) last season.
4. Brendon Lewis, Memphis: The transfer from Nevada has been a three-year starter, including 2022 at Colorado. For his career, Lewis has completed 61% of his passes, with 28 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. He also ran for 775 yards at Nevada last season.
5. Byrum Brown, South Florida: Brown had a great year in 2023 (he and Jayden Daniels were the only quarterbacks with more than 3,000 yards passing and 800 rushing yards), but Brown had a lower leg injury that held him to just six games in 2024.
6. Katin Houser, East Carolina: The Michigan State transfer took over the Pirate offense in mid-season and led ECU to a 5-2 record, after a 3-3 start. He threw 18 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions. Houser led East Carolina’s rally from a 31-24 deficit at Tulsa with two touchdowns in the final 5½ minutes.
7. Kadin Semonza, Tulane: The transfer didn’t win much at Ball State the previous two seasons (4-11) but in 2024 threw 25 TD passes and just 10 interceptions.
8. A.J. Padgett, Rice: Padgett sat out last season but played well in a few 2022 and 2023 starts.
9. Evan Simons, Temple: Struggled when given playing time at Rutgers in 2022, then was OK last season with the Owls (15 TDs, nine interceptions).
10. Kirk Francis, Tulsa: The now-sophomore had some moments in 2024 but also struggled; he finished with 1,585 passing yards, nine TDs and six interceptions.
11. Jalen Kitna, Alabama-Birmingham: The son of former National Football League quarterback Jon Kitna lit up Tulsa last season, with six touchdown passes, but otherwise hasn’t done much.
12. Reese Poffenberger, North Texas: The transfer from Miami didn’t play much last season after a couple of standout seasons with Albany.
13. Dewayne Coleman, Army: No experience, but the Black Knights usually produce a solid QB.
14. Conner Harrell, Charlotte: A backup at North Carolina the last two seasons.
Castellanos talks trash
Florida State quarterback Tommy Castellanos talked a little trash on the Seminoles’ season-opening opponent. A little squad called Alabama.
But while the college football world was aghast at Castellanos’ brazenness, the real question went unasked. Not why would Castellanos poke the (school of) Bear. But why would Florida State be relying on Tommy Castellanos to quarterback such a pivotal season?
The 2024 Seminoles were 2-10 overall and 1-7 (last place) in the 17-team Atlantic Coast Conference, and coach Mike Norvell faces a crossroads season.
And yet he’s relying on a quarterback who was benched last season by Boston College, then quit the team.
Castellanos completed 61.5% of his passes for BC last season, with 18 touchdowns and five interceptions. He led a season-opening victory over Florida State (oh the irony), but then BC lost four of six, beating only Duquesne and Michigan State. And when the Eagles got down against Syracuse, Castellanos was replaced by Grayson James, who led BC to a 37-31 record.
James was announced as the new starter the next week, and Castellanos quit the team.
And that is the quarterback Florida State is relying on?
Castellanos told On3 a couple of weeks ago that “I’m excited, man. People, I don’t know if they know, but you go back and watch every first game that I played in, we always start fast. I dreamed of moments like this. I dreamed of playing against Alabama. They don’t have Nick Saban to save them. I just don’t see them stopping me.”
Silly to say, but completely meaningless. Talk is cheap and means nothing. If Alabama has room for more motivation, then the rest of the Southeastern Conference can breathe a little easier. The Crimson Tide isn’t who it ought to be.
Sure, it’s bad form to talk nonsense like that. But a much bigger story is Florida State resorting to the likes of Castellanos to save the Seminoles.
Mailbag: NIL changing fans
The name/image/likeness revolution is changing college football, and some fans wonder if it causes a downturn in passion.
Dave: “NIL will have an effect as the roster will change more than a pro team. Will the next Billy Sims stay here? Even a Jimbo Elrod? Players being paid will challenge allegiances, I am thinking.”
Berry: You could be right. The pros have more stable rosters than the colleges right now. When an NFL roster is more stable than a college roster, the world has tipped off its axis.
Fourth of July Hot Dog Contest
Competitive eater Joey Chestnut celebrates after winning the 2025 Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest. Yuki Iwamura, Associated Press
Hot-dog eating contest: No thanks
I walked into the house about a little after 11 a.m. Friday, and the family already had the television turned to ESPN: Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot-dog eating contest.
I took a seat where I couldn’t see the TV. That’s an easy pass.
I don’t deny the right of people to compete for prize money by stuffing their faces with hot dogs. I don’t deny the right of people to flock to Coney Island and watch the disgusting spectacle. I don’t even deny the right of people to watch on my television.
I just want to know why anyone considers it a sport? Like dance marathons and spelling bees, why are eating contests considered sport? Why is it on ESPN, even if the “E” in ESPN stands for entertainment and a network with more channels than I can count has to fill time with something?
Cramming hot dogs down your throat and sticking buns in water so they’ll go down quicker is not the human drama of athletic competition. If ABC’s Wide World of Sports ever spans the globe again, would it rope in hot-dog eating to the constant variety of sports? I don’t think so.
Joey Chestnut won the Coney Island event again Friday. He’s a superstar in his field and he’s an American culture icon.
Me, I miss the days when hot dogs could draw us to the Zenith only with the Armour jingle. “Hot dogs, Armour hot dogs. What kind of kids eat Armour hot dog?”
berry.tramel@tulsaworld.com
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