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No Names chairman Clay Bennett announced the acquisition of the Tulsa 66ers today, and I had a chance to catch up with him for the second time in as many days. In a brief interview with Jimmie Tramel and I, Bennett talked about the Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma City team name debate, team employment and reiterated the team... Read More

WWLS to air OKC's games July 30, 2008 By Darnell Mayberry Staff Writer Clay Bennett, the chairman of Oklahoma City’s NBA franchise, will be a guest on WWLS-FM 98.1 at 5 p.m. today to announce the team has agreed to a radio rights deal with the Citadel Broadcasting station. Team officials and... Read More

WWLS to air OKC’s games July 30, 2008 By Darnell Mayberry Staff Writer Clay Bennett, the chairman of Oklahoma City’s NBA franchise, will be a guest on WWLS-FM 98.1 at 5 p.m. today to announce the team has agreed to a radio rights deal with the Citadel Broadcasting station. Team officials and... Read More

Join us for a live chat July 29, 2008 We are venturing into new territory on Wednesday morning, as sports editor Mike Sherman and I, with the help of the good folks at the Opubco studios, will attempt a live NBA videocast at 11 a.m. on NewsOK.com. There will be a link on the home page of NewsOK.com before the start of the videocast that you can... Read More

Nothing ventured, nothing gained July 25, 2008 OKC took a shot at landing a promising young player in C.J. Miles this week. Utah had other ideas, rejecting that attempt by matching the team’s offer on Friday and keeping the restricted free agent shooting guard. But the attempt was a wise one considering Miles’ age (21) and past production when... Read More

Utah will match offer for Miles July 25, 2008 The Utah Jazz have matched Oklahoma City’s four-year- $15 million offer sheet for restricted free agent C.J. Miles to retain the 21-year-old shooting guard, according to league sources. The Jazz had until 4 o’clock central time to decide whether to match the... Read More

Could Utah Match Offer for Miles? July 24, 2008 The Jazz have until Friday to match OKC’s four-year, $15-million offer sheet on C.J. Miles, and it’s looking like Utah is using these final few hours to clear up cap space to retain the 21-year-old shooting guard. Utah traded backup point guard Jason Hart on Wednesday to the Los Angeles... Read More

News and Notes July 23, 2008 Oklahoma City still hasn’t signed second-round pick DeVon Hardin. Second-round picks aren’t guaranteed to make the team, but Hardin’s case is unusual because GM Sam Presti has raved about his potential since the team drafted him last month. Here’s what Presti had to say when I asked him why Hardin... Read More

Temporary Practice Site Selected July 22, 2008 Oklahoma City’s NBA team has reached an agreement to purchase the Performance Sports Center in Edmond to serve as its temporary practice facility for next season. A permanent training location has yet to be determined. Team officials... Read More

Durant scores 62 at Berry Farms July 21, 2008 When you have 20 minutes to spare I’d recommend watching this video of Kevin Durant playing at the legendary Goodman League in D.C. last Friday. Durant scores 62 and hits a league record 10 3-pointers. Unfortunately, the video only captures the game’s final 21 minutes. But trust me, it’s worth a look.... Read More

Durant to have jersey retired at UT July 18, 2008 Kevin Durant will have his No. 35 jersey retired at the University ofTexas during the 2008-09 season, the school announced Friday. Durant played one season for the Longhorns in 2006-07, sweeping seven national player of the year awards and becoming the first... Read More

OKC signs C.J. Miles to offer sheet July 18, 2008 Oklahoma City has signed Utah guard C.J. Miles to an offer sheet, according to a league source with knowledge of the team’s negotiations. The terms of the deal remain unclear, but the offer is expected to start at more than the $1.2 million Miles was set to earn... Read More

OKC Represented on Olympic Select Team July 16, 2008 Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Jeff Green have been named to a 10-player USA Basketball Men’s Select Team that will help the USA Senior National Team prepare for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Oklahoma City coach P.J. Carlesimo was named the coach of the USA... Read More

My take on the team name

July 16, 2008 Everyone’s got an opinion on what the team name for Oklahoma City’s NBA franchise should be. We’ve heard suggestions ranging from Aviators to Zingers and everything in between. An A to Z listing will run in Thursday’s editions of The Oklahoman. On our weekly NBA podcast, sports editor Mike Sherman and... Read More

Places to mingle July 15, 2008 My past four posts have all included Q&As with players, the team GM and a guy who last week had people briefly thinking the team will be named the Oklahoma City Marshals. While I hope those Q&As were insightful, I figure I better get away from that format in this post. And so, as the team continues... Read More

Catching up with Russell Westbrook July 12, 2008 By now I’m sure most of you saw or heard about how impressive rookie point guard Russell Westbrook was in the Orlando Pro Summer League. He raised a lot of eyebrows of scouts, coaches and GMs with his performances and made believers out of many fans and media members who doubted Oklahoma City... Read More

Sam Presti visits OKC July 10, 2008 Sam Presti, the second-year general manager for Oklahoma City’s new NBA team, met the media on Thursday afternoon. In his 30-minute press conference, Presti talked about the challenges of relocation, his expectations for next season, coach P.J. Carlesimo’s philosophy, and attracting free agents to a small... Read More

No truth to OKC Marshalls July 09, 2008 There is a buzz on talk radio and Internet blogs and message boards today about the nickname of Oklahoma City’s new NBA team. People are under the impression that the team will be called the Oklahoma City Marshalls. It’s not the Marshalls. The rumor is quickly gaining momentum because when you type... Read More

Jeff Green moving to OKC in August July 08, 2008 Had a conversation with Oklahoma City second-year forward Jeff Green today a few hours before the team tips off its second game in the Orlando Pro Summer League. Green, who has never been to OKC, talked about when he’ll arrive, what he knows about the city and its fans, rookie guard Russell Westbrook, why he... Read More

Indiana 95, OKC 78 July 07, 2008 Oklahoma City’s new NBA franchise played its first game today, and it resulted in a loss for the soon-to-be named home team. Indiana 95, OKC 78. Here’s the box score. And here’s the recap. I got to check out most of the first half of the game live online and bits and pieces of the second half.... Read More

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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.