Thunder Rumblings

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Four burning questions - Was the season a failure?

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Thunder Rumblings Blog Posts

Oklahoma City….??? March 31, 2008 | Comment on this article

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In Monday’s editions of The Oklahoman, we’ll be running the best team names and uniform designs for Oklahoma City’s prospective NBA team that have been sent in by readers over the past few weeks. The package will be prominently displayed in our Main Event section, which is a two-page spread. Be sure to... Read More

Stern on Seattle expansion team March 27, 2008 NBA Commissioner David Stern on Thursday would not come clean about whether Seattle will get an expansion franchise if the Sonics move to Oklahoma City. He had this to say when asked about the possibility…. “I think what I’d like to do is to say that in light of the swirling events and the continuing... Read More

Lewis Katz conversation March 26, 2008 I don’t know if all of this ran in today’s Oklahoman, so here’s the entire Q&A with New Jersey Nets part owner and relocation committee member Lewis Katz. Q: What were your impressions of Oklahoma City coming in and what do you think now? A: I had no idea what Oklahoma was about. I... Read More

Interesting article March 21, 2008 A good article in the Wall Street Journal today on the inventors of the basketball Web site Hoopshype.com. Like many sports writers and NBA followers in general, I check this Web site daily. For those of you who might not be familiar with it, it’s a great site to spend five minutes on every day, glancing... Read More

Seattle Mayor fires back at Stern March 20, 2008 Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels has responded to the latest attacks on Seattle by NBA Commissioner David Stern. Earlier this week, Stern called Seattle’ government and business leaders’ last-minute attempt to buy the Sonics and renovate KeyArena a “PR stunt.” Nickels pointed the finger back at... Read More

Phoenix Suns on Sonics, OKC March 20, 2008 The Phoenix Suns played the Sonics last night in Seattle and Shaquille O’Neal had some not-so-nice things to say about our fair city. Grant Hill, too. Shaq called the Sonics’ prospective move to OKC “dumb” and “stupid.” “Seattle has tradition, the Space Needle, and there’s water here,” Shaq... Read More

More Stern words March 19, 2008 Know those terrible Storms that hit much of Oklahoma and Texas on Tuesday, cancelling flights and causing severe flooding? Well yours truly was a victim. I had an early Tuesday morning flight from Houston back to OKC but, after sitting in an airport for seven hours, never got on that flight. I’m still... Read More

Durant on OKC March 14, 2008 At last night’s Sonics game against the Celtics, Sonics forward Kevin Durant weighed in on Oklahoma City’s NBA future, calling OKC a “great place for basketball.” Here’s a short story on what he had to say…… By Justin Rice Special Correspondent BOSTON — After a game against the... Read More

OKC-Sonics agree to form Ford Center lease March 14, 2008 Oklahoma City officials today announced an agreement with the Seattle SuperSonics on a letter of intent to enter into a lease for the use of the Ford Center. The lease, which is expected to be finalized before the NBA Board of Governors vote on the Sonics relocation application next month, will have an initial... Read More

ESPN Anchor Says Save Sonics March 12, 2008 I just happened to be checking in on this blog while watching SportsCenter tonight, and anchor Neil Everett just slipped in a quick “Save the Sonics” while introducing the team’s highlights from tonight’s Celtics game. Everett didn’t say anything else about the franchise’s potential relocation,... Read More

Stern answers Sonics question March 12, 2008 TIME Magazine recently asked readers to submit questions to NBA Commissioner David Stern so the magazine could pose them to the commissioner and publish some of them in an upcoming edition. Out of hundreds of questions, a lot of them Sonics related, Stern answered 10 questions for TIME and only one regarding the... Read More

Viewpoints March 12, 2008 Two stark differences in viewpoints from two Seattle columnists today. In this Seattle Times column by Steve Kelley, he points the finger at Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire and House Speaker Frank Chopp for not stepping up and approving the $75 million King County tax extension that would help fund a... Read More

Sonics banner to fly in Olympia March 11, 2008 For the second time in a month, an airplane banner has been purchased by Sonics fans in an attempt to raise awareness of their fight to keep the team in Seattle. The banner will be flown from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday around the Washington State Capitol Building in Olympia. The banner... Read More

The Sports Guy on Sonics, Oklahoma March 11, 2008 Bill Simmons, perhaps better known as The Sports Guy on ESPN.com, was recently interviewed on a Seattle sports talk radio show and weighed in on the Sonics, owner Clay Bennett and Oklahoma City. In the words of talk show host Dave “Softy” Mahler, Simmons has “been more than a friend to Sonics... Read More

So much for that March 10, 2008 Guess you can forget that last post. Wish I didn’t waste my time typing it. The Seattle Post Intelligencer is now reporting that the Washington State Legislature will not provide $75 million to the $300 million proposal to remodel KeyArena by Seattle officials and a Seattle-based group interested in... Read More

A new Sonics deadline March 10, 2008 Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who leads the Seattle-based group that is interested in buying the Sonics, has placed a deadline on Washington state lawmakers to approve the state’s needed $75 million in the $300 million financial plan to remodel KeyArena. The Seattle Times has the story here. You can... Read More

Sonics, Hornets & Grizzlies March 09, 2008 There was news out of Washington this weekend when Gov. Chris Gregoire told Seattle reporters that at some point city and state leaders in Seattle and Washington have to accept that the Sonics are not for sale. Times columnist Steve Kelley had this piece in today’s paper, calling out state... Read More

NBA coming to OKC March 06, 2008 The NBA’s relocation committee is coming to town on March 25 to tour the Ford Center and meet with business leaders and the Sonics ownership group. NBA Commissioner David Stern as well as several other league executives will be here. You can read more details in our story here. Stern, meanwhile, dealt... Read More

Thunder Rumblings Bloggers

Darnell Mayberry

OKC Thunder Senior Reporter

Darnell Mayberry grew up in Langston, Okla. and is now in his third stint in the Sooner state. After a year and a half at Bishop McGuinness High, he finished his prep years in Falls Church, Va., before graduating from Norfolk State University in 2004.

Mayberry joined The Oklahoman’s sports staff in 2005 after a year at the Akron Beacon Journal, where he covered the University of Akron men’s basketball team, high schools and recruiting. Since arriving at The Oklahoman, Mayberry has become the leading authority on the NBA as the only traveling media member and the only reporter to cover every NBA game ever played in Oklahoma City.

He served as the paper’s beat writer on the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets from 2005-07, broke the news of the Seattle SuperSonics’ settlement negotiations with the City of Seattle in the summer of 2008, a development that allowed the team to relocate to Oklahoma, and has covered the Thunder since the franchise’s inception.

Mayberry and his wife, Courtney, were married in 2010 and live in Oklahoma City.

John Rohde

Sports Senior Reporter

John Rohde joined The Oklahoman staff in January of 1987 as a sports columnist. He has covered all college sports, plus the Texas Rangers, Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans/OKC Hornets and professional golf. Rohde also has served as a beat writer for OU football and basketball and currently is covering the NBA and the OKC Thunder. Rohde is married, has a son, was raised in Boulder, Colo., and was a 1982 graduate from the University of Arizona.

Anthony Slater

Reporter

Anthony Slater has been NewsOK.com's lead sports blogger since the summer of 2012, covering Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Before that, he covered OSU athletics for The Daily O'Collegian, working as the sports editor and beat writer for football and men's basketball. Originally from Northern California, he has lived in Oklahoma the past three years.