Larry Brown Sports

More often than not, taunting an opponent on Twitter is something that will make a player look bad. If you are a D-League player taunting an NBA team and one of the best players in the game, you are always going to look bad.

Royce White gave us a perfect example of that earlier this week when he sent a tweet at Kevin Durant about how the Oklahoma City Thunder are starting to look “shaky” against the Houston Rockets. The irony of the whole situation is that White suffers from an anxiety disorder that has put his NBA career in doubt. However, Durant claims he isn’t all that familiar with him.

“Who is that?” Durant said Friday when asked about White’s comments, via Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. “Who is that? I haven’t seen him on the bench. I haven’t seen him on the bench. So, I mean, I’m not worried about guys that’s not even in our series. Ain’t that the guy that’s afraid to fly? Well I wish him the best, man, and if I see him next year I’ll let him know who we are.”

Game, set, match. There was really no winning for White in this situation. Boston Celtics guard Jordan Crawford got called out by Carmelo Anthony’s wife after he talked trash because he’s a benchwarmer. White isn’t even on the Rockets’ NBA roster, so he’s a step below that. The former Iowa State star was simply looking for attention and he got it. If he wants to look like an idiot to earn a share of the spotlight, that’s his prerogative.

H/T Pro Basketball Talk

The Oklahoma City Thunder are heading in the wrong direction since Russell Westbrook went down with a knee injury. After putting the Houston Rockets in a 3-0 hole, the Thunder now find themselves preparing for Game 6 on the road. Kendrick Perkins is not concerned.

No team has ever come back to win an NBA playoff series after being down 0-3, but that hasn’t stopped the speculation. Some people feel as though the Thunder could be in trouble now that they have to adjust on the fly without their floor general, and there is certainly some truth to that. However, Perkins wanted his nearly 50,000 Twitter followers to know that the team is not panicking. He just had an interesting way of showing it.

You think we stressed out right now. Y’all crazy we got heart over here in OKC. Thunderup twitter.com/KendrickPerkin…

— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) May 2, 2013

That’s great, but that would be a Boston Celtics championship ring. Perkins may have championship experience, but he is not going to carry the team to an NBA title. In my opinion, tweeting a picture of a Celtics ring doesn’t exactly help him prove his point.

H/T Black Sports Online

Russell Westbrook is stuck with the role of cheerleader for the Oklahoma City Thunder while he is out recovering from a knee injury. On Wednesday night, he was in attendance rooting for his teammates while wearing a “Let’s Go Thunder” shirt. Yes, THE Russell Westbrook.

Many of you are probably thinking to yourselves, “So what?” Let us not forget that this is the same Westbrook who wears cutoff sleeves and a gold chain to his postgame press conferences. This is the same guy who had the stones to wear this outfit during All-Star weekend earlier this year.

Seeing Westbrook wearing something we can’t make fun of is like seeing Superman without his cape. Something just isn’t right.

Photo via @cjzero

Earlier this week, CBS Houston writer Claire Crawford wrote a story that raised the question of whether or not one of the Oklahoma City Thunder dancers is “too chunky” to be a cheerleader. The entire story is posted above, and you can read it by clicking each section to enlarge the image.

“We are not trying to be ugly,” Crawford wrote. “We are just discussing what men like in women, specifically NBA cheerleaders.”

Even if men do prefer a specific body type when it comes to cheerleaders, embarrassing the young lady seems totally out of line. CBS Houston probably realized that, which is why the story has been pulled.

The story even ended with a poll question asking readers if they felt she was perfect for the job, could use some “tightening” up, or has “no business” wearing a cheerleading outfit in front of that many people.

Crawford’s real-life name reportedly is Anna-Megan Raley. Her Twitter accounts under her pseudonym and real name have been deleted, and an archive of her posts on CBS Houston have been wiped out for the most part.

The cheerleader who was targeted by the attack, Kelsey Williams, responded to the criticism over Twitter:

“To be womanly always, discouraged never”

— Kelsey Self Williams (@KelseyBWilliams) April 24, 2013

We wouldn’t know what blessings were if we didn’t go through trials. Thank you to EVERYONE for the compassion and love today. I’m in awe.

— Kelsey Self Williams (@KelseyBWilliams) April 25, 2013

Just a couple months ago, we learned the story of a Green Bay Packers cheerleader who took a stand against cyber bullying after reading all the nasty things that were written about her on Facebook. Fans are always going to be ruthless, but there’s no excuse for the media to perpetuate stereotypes and basically highlight a cheerleader who some may consider to not fit the “cheerleading prototype.” I don’t see how anyone thought this article was worth posting.

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s alternate uniforms for the 2012-2013 season seem to have been leaked by the NBA 2K13 video game.

Steve Noah, who owns the sports gaming site “Operation Sports,” gave a preview of several alternate NBA uniforms on Tuesday based on images from the video game. He shared pictures of the Nuggets, Spurs, Blazers, Nets, and Thunder alternate jerseys for the 2012-2013 NBA season.

Some of the alternate unis had already been revealed by the teams, but this is the first time we’re seeing the OKC alternates. Let me just say that I’m not a fan.

I don’t care for the number being the centerpiece of the jersey, the team name written vertically down the side, and the two extra stripes. They could also use a third color worked in there.

Oh yeah, and let’s hope if these jerseys make it out of the video game world and into the real world they spell “THUNDER” properly instead of “THUDNER.”

As a friend said to me, the Thunder have the three of the most marketable players in the league, and the worst uniforms in sports. I suppose if you’re going to have one or the other, they have the important part taken care of, but why can’t they at least improve their unis rather than make them worse?

Here’s another look at them:

Read The Rest of the Story…

Serge Ibaka and the Oklahoma City Thunder have reached an agreement on a four-year, $40 million contract extension, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski.

Ibaka was scheduled to be a restricted free agent next summer, but instead he’ll likely be with the Thunder for the next few years.

The 22-year-old big man has emerged as one of the league’s top defenders since being drafted by the organization No. 24 overall in 2008. Ibaka led the league with 3.7 blocks per game last season while averaging 9.1 points and 7.5 rebounds. He also has not missed a game in the last two seasons.

The extension means that the Thunder will now have Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Ibaka locked up for the foreseeable future. Durant and Westbrook, the team’s two top players, were already signed through the 2015-2016 season. But the contract puts the future of James Harden in question.

The reigning Sixth Man of the Year will be a restricted free agent after next season and will almost assuredly receive a max contract offer. The defending Western Conference champions already have around $50 million in salary committed for the 2013-2014 season (not including Ibaka’s new salary), so they would have to get creative in order to afford Harden. One option could be releasing center Kendrick Perkins through the amnesty provision after next season. Perkins has three years and $25.4 million remaining on his deal.

Whatever Oklahoma City decides to do, the choice to extend Ibaka shows how much they value his presence on the team.

Photo Credit: Beth Hall-US PRESSWIRE

If an NBA Finals matchup between the Thunder and Heat isn’t intriguing enough for you, there are plenty of side stories to follow. First and foremost, there is always the mystery of whether or not LeBron James can finally get over the hump and win a ring. If basketball isn’t your thing, you can keep an eye on the ridiculous situation between Lil Wayne and the Thunder that just never seems to go away.

After allegedly being denied a courtside seat in Oklahoma City during the Western Conference Finals, Weezy was able to purchase one for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night. However, he is once again unhappy with the people of Oklahoma City — this time the arena staff who must have frisked him at the door or something.

Again I was treated like sh!t by the Thunder arena staff…dam..I hope da Heat beat da dog sh!t out em!!

— Lil Wayne WEEZY F (@LilTunechi) June 13, 2012

Wayne was rooting for the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals after the nonsense that took place before Game 3 last series. Oklahoma City won four in a row after that, so Thunder fans should be happy the rapper is rooting for Miami.  The ironic part is Lil Wayne also had a problem with LeBron and Dwyane Wade last year when he was offended that they didn’t acknowledge him when he attended Heat games. The beef was later squashed, but the point is Lil Wayne desperately needs special treatment. Maybe it’s time for him to give up on the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Photo credit: Bob Donnan-US PRESSWIRE