Preseason schedule announced
Oklahoma City will open a four-game preseason schedule Oct. 3 against Houston in Tulsa. The first exhibition game at Chesapeake Energy Arena is Oct. 6 vs. New Orleans.
The Thunder unveiled its 2017 preseason schedule Friday, and the new shortened preseason will feature three games within state lines.
The Thunder tips off the preseason Oct. 3 in Tulsa against James Harden,
Chris Paul and the Houston Rockets, then plays consecutive home games at Chesapeake Energy Arena against New Orleans (Oct. 6) and Australia’s Melbourne United (Oct. 8). The Thunder wraps up preseason in Denver on Oct. 10.
The Thunder has ramped up its digital efforts in the past two seasons. Fans will be able to view every game this preseason either online or via Fox Sports Oklahoma. The first three games will be streamed live on the Thunder App and okcthunder.com, while the preseason finale in Denver will be on FS Oklahoma.
Tickets for the matchup against Houston are already on sale at bokcenter.com.
Tickets for the Thunder’s home games at Chesapeake Energy Arena will go on sale Sept. 8 at 10 a.m. on okcthunder.com.
As part of an effort to reduce back-to-back games and ensure the health of players, the NBA has shortened the preseason and moved up the start date of the regular season.
Last season, the Thunder played six preseason games and started the regular season on Oct. 26. The NBA season will start about a week earlier this season.
The NBA has not released regular-season schedules yet, but they’re expected to be unveiled in the upcoming weeks.
Paul George the advocate
Nike has made a concerted effort to outfit players with shoes that have individual meaning. Paul George is included,
with a version of his shoe that has particularly special significance.
On Twitter, George put out an all-call for fans to send him photos of the best customized versions of his PG1 shoe, and the the American Heart Association might have posted the best. AHA sent photos of the AHA Red PG1 FAST custom, along with the caption “Because every 40 seconds someone in the US suffers a stroke.”
Former Thunder player Jeff Green received similar treatment from Nike and the American Heart Association with special version of the Air Jordan XXXI to commemorate his recovery from openheart surgery in 2012.
George’s mother, Paulette, suffered a stroke when George was 6 years old. Paulette was bedridden for nearly two years and is still partially paralyzed on her left side, but
has made close to a full recovery.
Since 2015, George has been a part of a public service campaign for the American Stroke Association which advises how to recognize the signs of a stroke. The ads have run on television and in print media, and you may have even heard George on the radio teaching about FAST, an acronym which stands for Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty and Time to call 911.
“It’s a very sensitive subject within my family,” George told indystar.com in 2015. “Having someone go through that as close as my mother, it touched me.”
When we found out we had a chance to get behind this and put some awareness about it, my mom and I were all for it, so another family doesn’t have to go through all we went through.”