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Ball Don't Lie on the Thunder

  • Russell Westbrook, Thunder visit tornado victims at Oklahoma children’s hospital

    If you're like me or my friend Trey Kerby, this photo of Russell Westbrook high-fiving a young victim of the tornado that devastated Oklahoma City and Moore, Okla., on Monday filled your heart to bursting, and also made you want to know a little bit more about the injured Oklahoma City Thunder point guard's new friend.

    First off: The little guy is Grayson Ketchie. He's 3 years old, he's the big brother of a 6-month-old named Brayden and, based on the company he keeps, appears to be a boss. On Monday afternoon, the brothers were at a day care facility destroyed by the storm; while Brayden came out unscathed, Grayson did sustain some injuries, which landed him in the Children's Hospital at OU Medical Center.

    And that's where Westbrook and several of his Thunder colleagues come into the story, according to Nick Gallo of the Thunder's official website:

    [...] the Ketchie’s story has a happy ending. Both of their children will be okay, and as they were recovering, they were one of the many families the Thunder visited at the Children’s Hospital the day after the tragic storm. Russell Westbrook, Jeremy Lamb, Hasheem Thabeet, DeAndre Liggins and Head Coach Scott Brooks all met with families recovering from the horrific tornado in the PICU. The highlight of the day was when Westbrook, despite being in a wheelchair as he recovers from his torn right meniscus, played with Grayson, exchanged high-fives and blew bubbles.

    “He played with Grayson so wonderfully,” [mother Janna] Ketchie said. “It’s so awesome. They’re great guys… It’s amazing to see that he’s a professional basketball player who we know from nobody and he’s blowing bubbles with my son to make my son feel better. It’s amazing.” [...]

    “It’s tough to come in here and be with the families when their child is in pain, but it’s also good to see them smile and have a sense of enjoyment after the disaster yesterday,” Westbrook said.

    Hit the jump for footage of the Thunder players visiting Grayson and other young patients at the hospital.

    While Thunder players visited young victims, other team employees participated in a blood drive and volunteered at a local recovery supplies drop-off location as part of local relief work. The organizational efforts followed All-Star forward Kevin Durant's $1 million donation to the local branch the American Red Cross, a significant sum subsequently matched by Durant's employers. Durant also visited the Red Cross on Wednesday to meet relief workers and lend a hand.

    Financial and physical support are, of course, critical in times like these. But as Kim Prato, a child life specialist in the pediatric intensive care unit at OU Medical Center, told Gallo, the emotional support the Thunder offered matters quite a bit, too — and not only to young patients like Grayson:

    “It’s hard not to get emotional,” Prato said. “Being acknowledged, being appreciated is very helpful especially in a time where you’re hurting for your community. Not very many of us slept last night. We’re going on two very long days. … To (have the Thunder) give back and say thank you to the healthcare providers is overwhelming.”

    For information on how you can lend a hand, check out the Red Cross' website. You can also make a $10 donation by texting REDCROSS to 90999 from your cell phone.

    Video via Beyond the Buzzer.

  • Kevin Durant’s giant back tattoo is finished, may (or may not) include misspelling

    Kevin Durant's collection of "business tattoos" took a number of folks by surprise two summers ago. Some were struck by the torso-covering tats, which they viewed as a departure from the clean-cut, broad-appeal persona he'd cultivated; this seemed like a silly, outmoded way of looking at things. Others were simply surprised because they'd assumed Durant was tattoo-free because they'd never seen any; this is also a bit silly, but at least not quite so judgmental.

    Whatever your reaction to the artistic revelation, it confirmed that — like many of his peers, both within the NBA and outside it — Durant digs ink, setting the stage for new and interesting decorations to come. The self-expression continued a couple of months later, with the Oklahoma City Thunder star getting "Maryland" (his home state) tattooed across his shoulder-blades above a basketball-holding angel flanked by hands gesturing with Durant's number 35.

    Apparently, though, the piece wasn't complete. This week, Durant used some of his newfound, unexpected free time to get it finished:

    In the caption included when posting the photo to Instagram, Durant informed us that the script along the right side of his lower back next to Jesus' face is Scripture, specifically James 1:2-4, and suggested we "look it up." So we did:

    Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

    A reminder of the importance of sticking to one's principles in difficult times seems not only nice, but also extraordinarily appropriate for Durant this week. Cool tat, KD.

    Just one thing, though ... from our eagle-eyed pal Sarah Kogod of the Washington Post's D.C. Sports Bog:

    Wait, what?

    That does kind of look like "mautre" rather than "mature," doesn't it?

    Um, maybe the tattoo isn't quite finished after all.

    UPDATE! 7:50 p.m. EDT: It seems Mr. Durant has caught wind of the "mautre" controversy, as he's offered a follow-up Instagram post: "I got mature spelled the right way lol."

    It's still kind of hard to see, what with all that shine, but we'll take the man's word for it. We can be mautre about stuff like this.

    Hat-tip to Jimmy Traina at Sports Illustrated's Extra Mustard.

    Slideshow: Zoom in on NBA players' tattoos

    Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
    • Louisville coach Rick Pitino fulfills his promise and shows off his new tattoo
    • Slideshow: Olympians reveal their tattoos
    • Nick Hill’s Spartan tattoo sets the standard for college football ink
    • Pacers' Roy Hibbert vows to never sit silently on the bench again

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