Oklahoma City Thunder: Return to Santa Monica

The Thunder staged their morning shootaround Friday on familiar ground — the secondary gym at Santa Monica High School. It’s where the Thunder usually stages shootaround when in Los Angeles for games against either the Clippers or  the Lakers.

The Thunder likes Santa Monica High School because it’s within walking distance of the team hotel, the Casa del Mar, which is on the beach, right next to the famed Santa Monica Pier. I wrote about the gym two years ago, during the Thunder-Laker series. You can read that blog here.

The gym is not old school cool. It’s old school old. Ceiling tiles missing. Ants scrambling around the baseboards. No bleachers. Dead wood. Musty smell. But it makes you think of basketball.

I shot some video, talking to the Thunder players about their home away from home. The guys back in the studio put together a nice package. You can see it here.