Mark Daigneault – Jim Stafford's BlogOKC

Lu Dort a fan favorite, but no room for him in roster of retired Thunder jerseys

Lu Dort went from undrafted two-way player to a fan favorite as an Oklahoma City Thunder. (Photo credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images)

My wife, Paula, and I were sitting in our living room, commiserating a few days after the stunning trade of Lu Dort to the Atlanta Hawks by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The trade hit us hard. Dort had endeared himself to us because of his hard-nosed, aggressive defensive play and timely 3-point shooting for the Thunder. He played a key role in the team’s 2025 NBA championship.

“I think Dort’s number should be hung in the rafters at Paycom Center,” she said.

I thought about her statement for a few seconds. I know it came from the heart.

However…

“I think there are several other player numbers that might go up before Dort’s,” I replied.

“Well, Nick Collison’s number is already hanging up there,” she finally said, implying, perhaps, that Collison didn’t have the impact that Dort had.

We went back and forth on the topic for a couple of minutes. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Lu Dort, but …

There’s no right answer to this debate, but it got me to thinking whose number(s) really belong in the rafters above the Thunder’s home court.

I’m pretty sure Collison’s number 4 was retired because his career spanned both the team’s Seattle era and well into its OKC tenure. In fact, if I’m not mistaken, Collison was known as “Mr. Thunder” and also played a key role as the team gained its footing here and became a force in the NBA Western Conference and playoffs.

Here’s who I see as most deserving of seeing their number hanging above the Thunder playing floor. In addition to Collison, you can count them on three fingers.

Russell Westbrook. Why not? Russ played a critical role in the team’s rise to prominence in the early 2010s, then committed to OKC after Kevin Durant bolted in 2015.

Kevin Durant: Yes, KD broke our hearts when he ditched the Thunder to join Golden State, but there’s no question about the impact he had on the team’s rise to prominence.

Shai Gilgeous Alexander: SGA is a long ways from retirement, but he brought us a championship, two MVPs and continues to play like a champion.

Who might be long shots for consideration?

OK, Stephen Adams, for one. A big fan favorite and a big impact player during his time here. Serge Ibaka, my favorite player ever out of the Congo. Lu Dort, of course. It’s a shame he was traded for draft picks in a salary dump.

I can’t go much deeper on my list. Of current players, it appears that Alex Caruso, Ajay Mitchell and Cason Wallace all show jersey-retirement potential if they can bring us a few more titles.

Now, let’s consider rafter-worthy Thunder players from my friends Ed Godfrey and Steve Buck. They are also co-hosts with me of the 3 Old Geezers podcast.

Ed Godfrey
“Westbrook as soon as he retires. SGA when he retires. No one else. Durant at some point but not immediately. He has to pay a penance for leaving. SGA is a two-time MVP and led the team to a title. He could not score another point and deserve it.”

Steve Buck
“Collison, Russ, KD, SGA. Criteria: 10 years with team or league MVP. Sam Presti and Mark Daigneault get banners, too. All players from 24-25 team go up on a shared banner. Only four retired numbers.”

Steve sets a pretty high bar. I guess we all do. But it’s fun to speculate and debate in the off-season.

Thank you, Paula, for inspiring this post.

BONUS CONTENT: OKC Mayor David Holt may be the Thunder’s biggest fan. He can go deep on the team’s history, too (read his book Big League City). Anyway, Mayor Holt posted a stirring tribute to Dort on Facebook in the wake of his recent trade to Atlanta. Here’s the money quote from Holt’s post:

“Lu Dort was not just one of the 18 young men who brought Oklahoma City its first title in 2025, he was a key leader and contributor, and always a fan favorite for his suffocating defense on opponents. The Dorture Chamber will long live in Thunder mythology. Lu Dort will long live in Oklahoma City history.”

Read his entire post on Facebook.

MORE BONUS CONTENT: I heard from a couple friends of mine after they read this post, and decided to share their perspectives. Thank for letting me publish these worthy comments, guys.

Kent Taylor is retired from the oil and gas industry and lives in Owasso:

“Love the post…have to agree with Steve…Collison, Russ, SGA…and yes, but still need time to heal…KD. I still remember (son) Clint running out to the backyard where I was sitting on my lawnmower mowing to tell me KD was gone. The sting’s gone…especially when rubbing the salve of our ‘25 championship and watching how that Texan can’t win one without GS’s dynasty players. Yes, there’s also probably some bias as an OU alum mixed in.”

David Ramsey is a retired, long-time sportswriter who lives in Colorado:

“The Lugster not so beloved here on Front Range. But … wish we had him on Nuggets roster. Fun to see how Presti is/was messing with the Nuggets by going after Spencer Jones, a solid player with weirdest shot on our planet, or any other. The salary cap is wonderful, except when it causes havoc with Your Favorite Team.”

A passion for the Thunder and game-day experience

Paula TV — Paula Stafford stands close to the television as the Thunder-Mavericks games plays ojn

Watching the televised Thunder-Dallas game with my wife this past Saturday afternoon turned out to be a personal treat for me.

Not because the Thunder won or lost (they lost).

Paula and I were both disappointed to see our Thunder lose and go down 2-1 in their NBA second round playoff series to the Mavs.

Rather, it was the rare shared experience of watching a game together and being able to see Paula’s passion for the Thunder as the game progressed.

As a fan, Paula is a Thunder veteran. She’s attended a vast majority of Thunder games in the arena since the team relocated here in 2008. This year she saw most of their home games live as she accompanied her mother to the Paycom Center.

I mostly watched from home, and saw only a handful in person.

So, we watched separately most of the time. As for televised out of town games, they are usually played at night when we are trying to wind down and get our 4 year-old grandson in bed for the night.

It’s even worse for the playoffs when start times for NBA Western Conference teams like the Thunder are at 8:30 pm or later.

So Saturday afternoon brought us together in front of the TV for a rare shared watching experience.

Paula made it fun by wearing her passion on the sleeve of her Thunder T-shirt, so to speak.

Before the game, she offered a coaching tip to Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. Send Gordon Hayward out on the court to give Luka Doncic a couple hard fouls early and protect Lu Dort from accumulating fouls.

And when the Thunder have the ball, go hard at Luka, whom she perceives as soft on defense.

Later, we both decided that Hayward wasn’t tough enough to rough up Luka, so we settled on Kenrich Williams as a good matchup.

Daigneault did not heed her coaching tip.

Still, the Thunder hung with the Mavs throughout the game, even taking the lead several times.

Paula took to barking whenever Jalen Williams — J-Dub to fans — made a great play. J-Dub started the barking trend in post-game interviews, and it has spread to fans, even those at home.

As the game progressed, Paula would call her sister or our friend Donna and break down what just happened with them or celebrate a good play. Sometimes, they called her.

She chanted “Let’s go Thunder” periodically like they do in the arena, or “Rebound Thunder!” when they needed a boost.

The phone line was hot. In fact, out of the blue, her sister, JoAnne, suggested that the Thunder put Hayward on Luka to give him some hard fouls.

Where had I heard that?

But the Thunder couldn’t hold off the Mavs in the second half, and Paula was indignant over how the game was called by the refs.

“It’s hard to win when you are having to play against both the Mavericks and the refs,” she said. “Every call has gone Luka’s way because he’s getting star treatment.”

And so it went. I enjoyed watching her reaction as much as the game itself.

When it was over, Paula called her sister and our friend Donna, and they all commiserated over the loss and the unfair star treatment Luka received. The consensus was that Luka is a drama queen. I concur.

As for me, I enjoyed Paula’s enthusiasm for the Thunder to the end of the game and beyond.

It was a great afternoon of basketball.

3 Old Geezers took text rants to Podcast

Geezers in text exchange - 1

Before there was a 3 Old Geezers podcast there was the 3 Old Geezers text exchange, a sort of daily debate over the Thunder and the world at large.

The group included my friends Steve Buck and Ed Godfrey, who disagreed strongly with my stance against tanking — which translates to losing on purpose to get a better draft position — by the Oklahoma City Thunder, or any NBA team, for that matter.

We went back and forth for a couple of years with Steve often reacting with ‘we need to take this debate to a podcast.’ It was a nice thought, but none of us had any podcast experience or equipment.

Then Steve came up with a couple of microphones and technology to connect to a recording device like a computer.

We had no more excuses.

So, last fall we launched the 3 Old Geezers podcast — LISTEN HERE — which has had only moderate success. But it allows us to vent our old man rage in get-off-my-lawn type rants.

Ed’s righteous indignation over perceived ills like bad officiating in college softball or the challenges of new technology have been well worth the effort. His humorous Old Man rants are exactly why I’m participating.

Steve hosts with a steady hand, suggesting appropriate and timely topics, while I’m mostly reacting to what’s been said or forgetting the Mayor’s name or even the web address of this blog. It happens.

Anyway, last week, Steve suggested we include some of our text exchanges in this blog to provide insight into where our material comes from.

Great idea. I’ve gone back through our Geezer text string and come up with some material that has led to blog discussion. Here’s a taste:

JANUARY 9
Jim Stafford: This is from a Geezer’s wife last night after she came home from the game: “I’m so impressed with our coach because of how many players he uses in a game. Instead of using just the starting five with two or three of the same substitutes like our old coaches, he uses a lot of players throughout the game, and you never know which one might come in.”

Ed Godfrey: He will be relying on that bench this month with a heavy slate of games.

Steve Buck: Paula knows. Jim on the other hand yearns for the Scottie Brooks days of predetermined rotations

Jim Stafford: I love Foreman Scottie! He was my favorite coach until Mark Daigneault came along.

Ed Godfrey: WHAT? Daigneault is your favorite coach now? Next thing you know you will be telling us Chet Holmgren is better than Mike Muscala.

Steve Buck: #truth

Jim Stafford: I like Daigneault’s courtside demeanor. Man, you can’t get him flustered. I’m still mulling over Chet vs. Muscala.

Back to reality. Here’s the latest on Muscala that I sent my Geezer partners:

As I said online, it’s a Christmas miracle!

Screenshot

More text debate:

JANUARY 29
Ed Godfrey: They changed the comics today. No Shoe! No B.C.! No Wizard of Id! Who wants Pearls Before Swine? Non Sequitor? Jump Start?

Jim Stafford: Welcome to the 21st Century

Ed Godfrey: Who reads newspapers? People from the 20th Century!

So, are you getting the drift? The Geezer text stream never ends. Here’s one more for good measure:

FEBRUARY 20

Ed Godfrey: Just asked Alexa to play Eddie’s playlist again. She played an Eighties playlist. I give up.

Steve Buck: What exactly is on Eddie’s playlist?

Ed Godfrey: Chris Stapleton, Tyler Childers, Turnpike
Troubadours, Johnny Cash, Coltor Wall, Zach Bryan.

Steve Buck: Yeah…no overlap with 80’s lol

So, there you have it. Our failures to communicate in unending text rants found their place in a podcast.

I hope you’re listening. It’s Geezer gold.

The Thunder Way sets the NBA gold standard

Thunder presser — Thunder GM Sam Presti introduces the team’s 2022 draft class to the OKC community as the players listen.

I‘m not sure how other NBA teams welcome new talent to their community, but the OKC Thunder way may be the gold standard.

On Saturday, the Thunder welcomed their four 2022 draftees to Oklahoma City with a special press conference at the Clara Luper Center just west of downtown.

The event was streamed on the Thunder app, so we all had a chance to watch it. And it was an intriguing hour that provided some insight into the team’s new players — Chet Holmgren, Ousmane Dieng, Jalen Williams and Jaylin Williams.

Paula Daigneault — Thunder coach Mark Daigneault and Paula Stafford at introductory press conference

But for me, it afforded an opportunity to see and hear Sam Presti describe what he saw in each player well before the draft that ultimately brought them to the team.

It’s obvious that Presti pours a huge amount energy in learning all he can about the players, their personalities and their families, in addition to assessing their level of talent.

I loved the way he described watching the players in various settings months or years before the moment their names were announced.

And how he uses locations of historical significance to introduce new players to the community.

All of that’s probably the reason broadcaster Dan Patrick described Presti last year as “the best GM the NBA has seen in a long, long time.”

I agree with that assessment, even if I’ve complained about every inch of the Thunder’s tanking strategy over the past couple of years. I don’t think that playing to lose is fair to their fans, players or corporate sponsors.

But that’s just me.

Thunder cap Folks like my friend Steve Buck are all in on losing on purpose because they say the end justifies the means. I’m just hoping the NBA will come up with a way to nullify tanking as a strategy.

Anyway, I thought the press conference was a huge success, and the players said all the right things, as did Presti.

I also had a secondary reason for watching the Thunder introductory press conference. My wife, Paula, was invited to attend as a “community draftee” by the Thunder through her role as an employee of NAMI Oklahoma.

She sat on the front row during the press conference, and had the opportunity to meet Thunder coach Mark Daigneault and the new players. And Steve Buck’s middle school-age boys went with her, so it was a win-win-win for everybody.

“It was an awesome experience,” she said. “I gained a whole new respect for Coach Daigneault and for the way the Thunder introduce their players to the community. It was a great event.”

Paula group — The NAMI Oklahoma “community draft picks” that attended the Thunder news conference on Saturday.