Oklahoma City Thunder players moving on despite the NBA Lockout
A major breakthrough in NBA lockout is expected this week, as the NBA owners and players union sit on the table again this Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss the fate of upcoming NBA season. The NBA lockout has led to postponement
of training camps and cancellation of pre season games, leaving most teams and players in a disarray. However, Oklahoma City Thunder players don’t seem to be too worried and have come with a backup plan in case no progress is made in the lockout meetings.
Just two weeks back, number of players from Thunder gathered on the campus of university of Texas for four consecutive days, courtesy of their reserve point guard Royal Ivey who arranged the camp.
According to report, OKC players will be gathering up in Lexington next week for their second minicamp that is being arranged by the reserve centre Nazr Muhammad, who also happens to be a former University of Kentucky player.
The first session went pretty well for Thunder. It comprised of court work and weight training followed by pickup games later in the afternoon. Kevin Durant, James Harden, Nick Collison, Eric Maynor and Cole Aldrich were amongst
the players who attended the training. A few players who missed the training - Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins - because of other commitments, are expected to join the team in second training camp.
Some local university players, former and current NBAers were also the part of pickup games. Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs and Michael Finley, who recently retired from NBA last year were among the most prominent.
“The competition was really good. They were high-level games and everyone competed,” Nick Collison said after the games. “Who knows if it will make a huge difference in the season, but it was really good to see everybody. Everyone
was getting kind of sick of working out individually”
Thunder were brilliant last season. The team comprised of young stars took down one elite team after another and made their way into the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs however
nipped OKC’s extraordinary journey and went on to become the NBA Champions.
However, come next season, OKC will be the team to beat in the West. They are already preparing. Basketball like any other sports requires fitness and these training camps will help all Thunder players to be fit by the time deadlock
ends and the season starts.
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