Abrines suffers injury
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Abrines has missed three games in the European basketball championships with an unspecified injury.
In theory, Thunder guard Alex Abrines has a chance this month to get some valuable offseason experience.
In practice, it’s proving a challenge.
Abrines is playing for his native Spain at FIBA EuroBasket, the European basketball championship. But the 6-foot-6 guard has missed the past three games after an injury in Spain’s tournament opener, a 99-60 win last Friday against Montenegro.
Multiple online reports in Spanish indicated that Abrines is sitting as a precaution, though it’s unclear exactly what the nature of his injury is.
Reports last week suggested he had his ankle examined when he left the Montenegro game.
Abrines played 15 minutes in the opener, scoring seven points on 2-of-5 shooting, including 1 of 2 3-point attempts. He added two rebounds.
He missed wins Saturday against the Czech Republic, Monday against Romania and Tuesday against Croatia. His status for Thursday’s game against Hungary — Spain’s last in the tournament’s Group Phase — wasn’t clear on Tuesday.
Durant talks OKC fans, cupcakes
When Kevin Durant returned to Oklahoma City on Feb. 11 for the first time since his departure in free agency, he was bombarded by chants of “cupcake.”
Cupcake signs. Cupcake shirts. Someone dressed as a cupcake. To many NBA fans, Durant had become the term he and his former Thunder teammates reportedly used to call soft players.
In the last two weeks, Durant and Nike have embraced the cupcake.
Coinciding with the release of his KDX shoe and its “Red Velvet” colorway, Durant and Nike released a video via Buzzfeed’s “Tasty” Facebook page. In the video, Durant actually makes cupcakes and explains his thoughts about how Thunder fans welcomed him back to Oklahoma City.
Durant said he’s always been a fan of red velvet cupcakes, but Feb. 11 was a standout moment in his love affair with the dessert. It also showed him how passionate people were about his decision (as if he didn’t already know).
“My favorite memory of red velvet was being called a cupcake in Oklahoma City every time I touched the ball. That was fun,” Durant said.
“It definitely showed that the fans get really creative and are really invested in their team and the sport of basketball, so I looked at it as a positive.”
After the Warriors beat the Thunder 130-114 that night, Durant’s new teammates bought cupcake T-shirts from fans and wore them in postgame interviews.
“Me being called a cupcake was never serious to me, but to have my (Golden State) teammates support me and just make a joke about it, again that’s why it’s so funny to us,” Durant said.
“After we won the basketball game, it was kind of a little jab to the fans in Oklahoma City, but it’s all fun and games. To have that support from your teammates, especially when you’re going through a new experience like that, it was definitely refreshing to see.”
Durant left the Thunder for the Warriors as a free agent in the summer of 2016 after nine seasons in Oklahoma City. The anticipation of his return to Oklahoma City was one of the major storylines of last season.
Now, Durant has seemingly embraced his transformation among Thunder fans from beloved figure to loathed Warriors star.
“It feels good to kind of conquer that whole cupcake thing,” Durant said. “I know it was a big thing, so to kind of embrace that and make it a part of me now is what makes this whole thing now really, really cool.
“There was a lot of speculation on who I was and why I made a decision to leave where I was for nine years to go to another team. Everything was in question — my character, why I decided to make this decision, who made me make this decision. I just wanted to show everybody it came from me, and I’m still the same person I was before I made the decision.”
The first Thunder-Warriors game at Chesapeake Energy Arena this season is Nov. 22.