Oklahoma City Thunder notebook: Thunder's 50th win marks third time in four years

“We had 40 wins in two seasons, and now we have 50 wins almost every year,” said Kevin Durant. “So that's a blessing and shows how much we've grown as an organization. It's great to be a part of. We really can't take wins for granted because we went a few years without getting many.”

Durant and Nick Collison are the only two players who were members of the Seattle SuperSonics when they went 20-62 in their final season. Brooks was an assistant coach on that team. In the franchise's first year in Oklahoma City, the Thunder went 23-59.

“Give our guys the credit,” Brooks said. “They come out every year and try to get better. And we never used our age as an excuse. We've always worked on the practice floor, and having 50 win seasons is a mark that we can be proud of. But we've still got a lot of games left and we still want to keep improving going into the playoffs.”

With 15 regular season games remaining, the Thunder would need to go 10-5 to finish with its first 60-win season. The Sonics accomplished that feat only three times in their 41-year history, but no current Thunder player or coach was a member of any of those clubs.

“It shows that we're improving,” said Thabo Sefolosha. “It shows that we keep getting better and we're a good team. I'm not surprised with it. But at the same time, I'm really happy with the growth of the team.”

OKLAHOMA NATIVE JOINS THUNDER FRONT OFFICE

The Thunder has hired Jason Ranne, a Tulsa native who starred at Bishop Kelley High School before going on to play at Arizona, as its director of strategic planning.