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On Monday, October 13th physicians successfully removed the benign growth from D.J. White’s jaw, the Oklahoma City Thunder announced today.
Team physicians will perform the second phase of the surgery, where they will mend the jaw with a bone graft taken from White’s hip, in approximately six weeks.
White’s expected recovery time remains 4-6 months.
The AP reports: Mike Taylor set up the go-ahead basket with a steal and then sent home an emphatic right-handed jam in the final minute as the Los Angeles Clippers spoiled the Thunder’s only preseason home game Tuesday night with a 90-88 win. Taylor picked Russell Westbrook’s pocket and missed a fast-break layup, but Ricky Davis was there with the putback to give the Clippers (2-0) an 84-83 lead with 49.9 seconds remaining… Al Thornton led the Clippers with 23 points, Taylor finished with 14 and Ricky Davis had 13. Eric Gordon, the Clippers’ first-round draft pick, scored nine points on 2-for-8 shooting in 22 minutes in his preseason debut… Kevin Durant, the reigning rookie of the year, paced the Thunder (1-4) with 18 points but missed a potential tying 3-pointer with 9 seconds left. Westbrook and Earl Watson scored 14, Johan Petro had 12 points and 15 rebounds and Desmond Mason and Nick Collison each added 10 points.
The AP reports: Kevin Durant shrugged off a late injury and scored 20 of his 26 points in an electrifying final 8 minutes to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder past the Houston Rockets 110-104 on Monday night for their first preseason win… Aaron Brooks scored 20 off the bench to lead the Rockets, D.J. Strawberry added 16 and Yao Ming had 15 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks in one half of action— playing the first and third quarters. Nick Collison had 21 points off the bench, Desmond Mason scored 16 and Chris Wilcox added 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Thunder.
The AP reports: Marco Belinelli had 22 points and six assists and Al Harrington added 16 points and nine rebounds to help the Golden State Warriors beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 122-102 in exhibition play Saturday night. DeMarcus Nelson, one of a handful of guards the Warriors (2-1) are looking at as a possible replacement for the injured and suspended Monta Ellis, added 18 points, seven assists and four rebounds. He had two thunderous dunks, both in the second half. Kevin Durant had 16 points and 14 rebounds for the Thunder (0-3), who shot just 38.6 percent from the floor to remain winless in the preseason. Damien Wilkins added 23 points, and Chris Wilcox had 15 points and eight rebounds.
The AP reports: Rookie Bobby Brown scored 22 points and the Sacramento Kings beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 94-85 in a preseason game Friday night… Spencer Hawes had 21 points and seven rebounds for the Kings (1-1), while John Salmons had 16 points and Kevin Martin and Francisco Garcia both had eight. Shelden Williams added seven points and 11 rebounds. Jeff Green led Oklahoma City, formerly the Seattle SuperSonics, with 19 points, including eight in the fourth quarter when the Thunder pulled within one point. Damien Wilkins had 14 points, Desmond Mason scored 10 and Johan Petro added eight points and 10 rebounds.
The AP reports: Rashad McCants scored 13 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and Rodney Carney and Ryan Gomes hit consecutive 3s to help Minnesota spoil the Oklahoma City Thunder’s preseason debut with an 88-82 victory Wednesday night… Al Jefferson added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Wolves (2-0) and Corey Brewer finished with 11 points. Kevin Love and Carney each finished with 10. Damien Wilkins led the Thunder with 19 points, including a layup to tie the score at 78 with 3:04 to play. McCants fouled out on the play, but Wilkins missed the free throw. Wilcox added 17 points for the Thunder, Russell Westbrook had 13 and Kevin Durant finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Oklahoman (Darnell Mayberry) reports: Desmond Mason has a new number. No. 34. He’s worn 24 throughout his career. He could have had it with the Thunder with no current players wearing 24. So why the change? No. 34 was his college number, which he said he wanted when Seattle originally drafted him but was taken by Jelani McCoy.
The Oklahoma City Thunder and Fox Sports Networks today announced that they have reached a multi-year agreement providing Fox with the regional television rights to Thunder Basketball. The announcement was made by Thunder Senior Vice President and Executive Producer Ken Adelson and Fox Sports Southwest Senior Vice President/General Manager Jon Heidtke.
In addition, Fox announced that its regional sports network currently serving the Oklahoma market (FSN Southwest, COX Ch 37 on basic cable in OKC) will be re-launched as “Fox Sports Oklahoma” in October to coincide with the start of the Thunder’s first season in Oklahoma City. The new network is an effort by Fox to more closely reflect the interests of the Oklahoma market and to strengthen its connection with local sports fans. Also, to emphasize the new TV partnership with Fox Sports, game broadcasts will be branded “FS Thunder” in its on-screen graphics.
During the 2008-09 season Fox Sports Oklahoma will carry 65 Thunder games. The rest of the Thunder schedule will be broadcast on a still-to-be named local partner. “Our fans will be able to watch every Thunder Basketball game on television, home and away,” Adelson said. The full season television schedule will be released in coming days.
This new partnership between Fox and the Thunder was forged to ensure that Thunder games would be widely available to fans throughout Oklahoma. Fox Sports Oklahoma will reach more than one million cable and satellite television homes throughout every TV market in Oklahoma.
“Fox Sports is the leader in regional sports television and we are proud and excited to partner with them,” Adelson said. “They are innovative, creative and offer state of the art production techniques. We have attained our goal of offering our fans a high quality, exciting, easily accessible TV broadcast.”
More than half of the Thunder games on Fox Sports Oklahoma will be in HD (high-definition) during the 2008-09 season, with additional HD broadcasts scheduled for the following season. For the Thunder broadcasts, Brian Davis is the play-by-play announcer and 14-year NBA veteran player Grant Long serves as Thunder analyst.
“This is an exciting time for Oklahoma sports fans and we’re thrilled to be on the ground floor as the Thunder’s new television partner,” Heidtke said. “We look forward to showcasing their games and helping to grow the team’s fan base throughout the state. We’re committed to building Fox Sports Oklahoma into the premier destination for local sports programming.”
Fox Sports Oklahoma will also offer additional Thunder programming such as THUNDER LIVE pre- and post-game shows and a weekly magazine show. In addition to Thunder telecasts, Fox Sports Oklahoma will offer a strong lineup of local sports programming, including select University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State football, basketball, and Olympic sports events, local coaches shows, and high school events beginning this year from the Oklahoma Secondary School Athletics Association. Fox Sports Oklahoma will also feature original programming and specials, such as In My Own Words, Under the Lights, and Spotlight, highlighting local athletes, coaches, and teams. Fox Sports Oklahoma will become the 17th regional sports network in the Fox Sports Networks family.
Brad Ames of Priority Sports informs InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner that the following players will be in the following training camps:
Eddie Gill: New Jersey
Trey Johnson: Phoenix
Ronald Dupree: Cleveland
Frank Robinson: Atlanta
Linton Johnson: Washington
Antywane Robinson: Philadelphia
Jared Reiner: Philadelphia.
Britton Johnsen: Utah
Matt Freije: Milwaukee
Luke Jackson: Portland
Rob Kurz: Golden State
Chris Alexander: Oklahoma City
Darryl Watkins: San Antonio
Veteran sports play-by-play announcer Brian Davis and former NBA player Grant Long have been named the Oklahoma City Thunder’s television broadcast team, it was announced today by Thunder Senior Vice President and Executive Producer Ken Adelson.
“We’re excited to welcome Brian and Grant to the Thunder family,” Adelson said. “Both Brian and Grant will be important representatives for the Thunder in the Oklahoma City community and we look forward to our fans building a relationship with them. Brian brings a wealth of sports broadcasting experience and he has an excellent working knowledge of our team, and we feel very fortunate to have him. Grant has experience in the NBA both as a player and as a broadcaster. Thunder fans will enjoy his insight into the game. ”
Davis has called games at the professional level in four major league sports – football, as radio voice of the Seattle Seahawks (2000-2003); basketball and hockey with the Seattle SuperSonics and NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks; and as the television voice of Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire. Davis comes to Oklahoma City from Seattle where last he worked for FSN Northwest and served as host to the Sonics’ pre-game, halftime and post-game shows. Several times over the last few seasons in Seattle, Davis was the main television play-by-play announcer for the Sonics. He also served as the play-by-play announcer for the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals preseason games from 2005-2007. In addition to his role on the Sonics telecasts, Davis was also the lead play-by-play announcer for FSN’s local and national Pac-10 football and basketball games and was the host of the weekly magazine programs Huskies All Access and Sonics All Access. In all, Davis participated in well over 100 events last year for FSN Northwest.
Long was the color analyst with the Atlanta Hawks broadcast team for two years and served as an analyst with Turner Broadcasting & FOX Network. The Eastern Michigan alum spent 14 seasons as a player in the NBA after being drafted 33rd overall in the 1988 NBA Draft by the Miami Heat. He also played for Atlanta, Detroit, Vancouver/Memphis and Boston. Long has spent the last two basketball seasons at his alma mater, working in the Player Development Department with the University.
The Thunder is currently in discussions with several potential TV partners.