Respect…and the Lack, Thereof.

It has been said that to get respect, you have to earn it. That’s fair… to an extent. So…I suppose I should just get to the point of where I’m taking this and for the purpose of this writing, I’m “taking it” down the road to the other end of the Turner Turnpike to Oklahoma City and specifically to Paycom arena, the home of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Not very many teams can say they’ve made it to the NBA finals and fewer can claim to have won a championship, or in a few cases, multiple championships. Although they’ve never won a championship, they have made a trip to the finals. That, in itself is deserving of some respect, win or lose. As it turns out, the Thunder has the distinction of being the smallest of “small market” teams in the NBA. As such, it can be a lot like “pulling teeth” for us (and I say “us” because this is the local franchise and I’m a big fan) to get any respect or even a mention by the talking heads of ESPN and similar sports media channels. Case in point: It’s preseason at this point and our team had a game against the Denver Nuggets (which they won, no surprise). However in the short segment where the highlights of that game were shown, not one OKC highlight was shown. It was all about the Nuggets and although the game ended with the score in favor of the Thunder, one might have thought that the other team had won. Impartial reporting? Not hardly. Videos on Youtube (not all of them) will talk about how bad their record is expected to be in the upcoming season and how their “star” players would be better off with a team which they label as expected to be in the playoffs or the finals. Obviously, there will be only one way to change the conversation and win the respect of those talking heads. And that would be to win it all. What are the chances of that happening? Most would say “slim to none” and for a team in the process of rebuilding, the odds are against it, I suppose. BUT……the pieces of the puzzle are being put together by Sam Presti, one at a time, add a player here and there, then trade a few to get a few. In a steady but deliberate fashion, the makings of a championship team are forming. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter, in my eyes, even though so many of those high-dollar, so-called experts are talking down the local boys, the fact remains that in a 80 -or-more-games season, every team has to win (or lose) one at a time and it’s a long, long ride between game one and the final game of the regular season. It would be a nice surprise if the Thunder makes it to the playoffs but not a surprise if our win-loss record is a lot better than it was last year. In any case, Paycom center will be packed for every home game, the crowd noise will be at it’s peak, fans at home will be glued to their tv sets and let the chips fall where they may. Thunder UP!!