Thunder ready for first trip to NBA final
When the Oklahoma City Thunder signed five-time champion Derek Fisher late in the season, they added a veteran guard with oodles more NBA finals experience than the rest of the roster he was joining.
Whether Fisher can prepare his Thunder teammates for what they’re about to face is another matter.
While the Miami Heat are returning to the finals for the second straight season, it’ll be an eye-opening, first-time experience for most of Oklahoma City’s youthful players. Only Fisher, starting centre Kendrick Perkins and backup Nazr Mohammed have ever made it this far — all winning titles with other teams.
But for all the leadership Fisher has provided since joining the Thunder in late March, he doesn’t plan any lectures for the team’s younger set that includes three-time scoring champion Kevin Durant and All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook.
“With my experience, I’ve found it better to on some level allow guys to experience things for themselves in its natural state,” Fisher said. “You can’t always tell someone what they should feel or what they should be thinking as they get ready to go into what may be the biggest moment of their life or their career.
“I think it’s important to allow people to be who they are and ex- perience it the way they naturally would.”
The finals are sure to disrupt some parts of the Thunder’s routine. Their practices will be uprooted from their brand new training facility on the north side of town and instead held downtown at Chesapeake Energy Arena, where the Heat will also work out. They’ll be surrounded by hundreds of additional media members, and it’s not uncommon for old friends and family to come out of the woodwork at what might not be the most opportune time.
“Those are things that you can control and basically block out. If they haven’t called you in the past couple months, then don’t take their call now,” Fisher warned.
“It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Just politely don’t answer or don’t respond to the text. And then in a couple weeks, once you’re done, you can reply back that you were busy. That’s how you keep that part under control.”