Get to know The Oklahoman's new OKC Thunder beat writer, Joel Lorenzi
The first time I visited Oklahoma City, I somehow found peace— even if just for a moment — inside the whirlwind that’d been my career.
It was June 30, 2022, and I’d seemingly teleported to a new city. Again. This time was only for one night, but a day later I’d settle into my fifth town in eight months. I began to only acknowledge miles by the hundreds, and with every lap it felt like my soul drifted further. Like the straps of a knapsack had been branded into my back. Like unpacking my bags was pointless.
With my world tour making a stop in the 405, I cruised through downtown. Before the traffic lights ahead even flashed yellow, I’d slammed on my brakes. I looked up and saw the Paycom Center.
I was mesmerized. By the emerald halos of light that wrapped around its crown and waist. The bold letters along the entryway. It felt like the only thing alive in a city that was sound asleep.
For as long as I’ve been around the game, I’ve been a spoiled hoops fan. Growing up on Chicago’s West Side and driving past the United Center everyday; driving an hour away with my Pops to watch Giannis Antetokounmpo through the years; going to high school with NBA players (my career didn’t last long); going to college with NBA players.
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None of it is new to me anymore. Looking up at a desolate version of Paycom shouldn’t have meant much. But it did.
At that moment, I was reminded of why I got into this business. Why I kept packing my car after I graduated from Missouri to go to Indianapolis and Houston and Omaha. Why I often skipped homework in high school to watch basketball.
The game was my first love, and I wanted to make it my living somehow. Daydreaming in front of Paycom gave me some hope that I was getting close.
I obsessed over the NBA growing up. The personalities, the games, the storylines. The league is home to some of the most fascinating individuals around, and somewhere along the way I decided that I wanted to be the one who’d humanize these giants by telling their stories.
Tugging at heartstrings, showing sides of an athlete that hadn’t been unraveled. It’s been my mission at every stop. I strive to make my words as silky as Charlie Wilson’s vocals, for my sentences to hit harder than Westside Gunn’s ad libs, to feel like I’m writing with an inkwell.
Truthfully, it’s translated into bad vision, long nights, a couple broken MacBooks and a lot of miles. So, so many miles. But I wouldn’t trade any of it.
After all, it brought me here, back to Oklahoma City as The Oklahoman’s new Thunder beat writer. And it feels like I arrived at the right time — city dwellers seem eager to fire off Stringer Bell’s famous line.
In my rookie year, I’ll cover perhaps the NBA’s most promising young team. A group whose rebuild probably shouldn’t be moving so rapidly but is anyway. I’ll chronicle the ever-evolving identity and game of a transcendent player like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. I’ll frame the second act of a franchise too young to even vote.
I’ll do it all with the same ambition that drove me across the country time after time.
Since I’m behind the wheel so often, I figured one more trip wouldn’t hurt. I drove back to Paycom earlier this week in hopes of grasping that feeling again.
My mind was flooded. Visions of Gilgeous-Alexander weaving through defenders for wacky finishes. Chet Holmgren stuffing shots at the rim. Jalen Williams rising through traffic. The sea of fans that’ll hover around the arena on game days. I dreamt of being around the NBA.
Then I raced home and unpacked.
Joel Lorenzi covers the Thunder and NBA for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joel? He can be reached at jlorenzi@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @jxlorenzi. Support Joel's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Get to know The Oklahoman's new OKC Thunder beat writer, Joel Lorenzi
