Advice is offered for the three new Thunder players coming to Oklahoma City

For you three, I know settling into a new town is tough. I first came here six years ago, so I'd like to share some things I've learned about the Crossroads of America.

First of all, Oklahoma City is a great place for professional basketball players. Oklahoma City is 12½ times more spread out than Boston and 2½ times more spread out than Charlotte. There are fewer people, too, so there's plenty of room to stretch out those big, long legs you guys have. I'm only 5-foot-3, so I'm comfortable pretty much everywhere.

Second of all, we're not all cowboys on the prairie. It's not like buffalo are roaming around in our backyards. Only some of us have buffalo.

But honestly, we do have tumbleweeds. I saw one bounce across Interstate 44 one time. I felt so sad because I knew I could never again say, “It's not like Oklahoma City has tumbleweeds blowing all over the place.” Now I have to say, “It's not like Oklahoma City has a lot of tumbleweeds blowing all over the place.”

Tumbleweeds aside, we don't all ride horses to work, though many of us wish we could. It's just not a good idea logistically with all the construction downtown.