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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.”

 

 

 

 

Privileged to attend service celebrating life of long-time Oklahoman city editor Gene Triplett

Former Oklahoman managing editor Joe Hight kicks off the recent memorial service for long-time Oklahoman city editor and entertainment editor, Gene Triplett.

I was among a group of 40 or so Oklahoma Publishing Co. alums who attended a recent memorial service for Gene Triplett, The Oklahoman’s long-time city editor and entertainment editor.

Gene passed away on June 6 at the age of 77.

It was a wonderful, upbeat celebration of Gene, emceed by the paper’s former managing editor, Joe Hight. Joe is the endowed chair of journalism ethics at the University of Central Oklahoma as well as director — and member — of the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame, which is housed at UCO.

I won’t give a play-by-play of the service, other than to say we got to hear “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” which Gene Triplett considered to be the greatest rock song of them all. That was followed by maybe six former colleagues who took the mic to tell a favorite Triplett story or what he meant to their careers as a mentor or editor.

Gene’s son, Aaron, also shared some memories and played a video about Gene when he was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. Watch it below.

Although I didn’t work directly with Gene on a day-to-day basis because I worked on a different desk, I still had a lot of interactions with him over the years. He had an unusually warm demeanor for a crusty old City Editor. I never saw or heard him snarl or yell at anyone.

That’s not to say that he didn’t, but I never witnessed it.

Anyway, Gene’s death tightens the circle of my fellow Oklahoman colleagues from the 1980s and ’90s who are still living. I’ve attended a growing number of funerals over the years.

Time marches on, but it’s always a reminder of my own mortality.

As we were leaving the service afterward, my friend and former Oklahoman colleague Ed Godfrey said that it’s too bad that all our newsroom reunions have to occur at funerals. I replied that I didn’t mind so much, because funerals provide the opportunity to rekindle so many lost relationships.

“Why a funeral?” he asked. “I would rather see everyone at a party,”

Well, yes, but I’m not sure how many former colleagues would drive from Tulsa, Dallas or Siloam Springs, Ark., for a party like they did for Gene’s service. They will make the effort to honor a former colleague.

It was a privilege for me to be among the group of former Oklahoman colleagues who gathered to honor the remarkable life and career of Gene Triplett.

BONUS CONTENT: My wife might tell you that “I can’t take Jim anywhere,” because of my inclination to make a social blunder along the way. I certainly committed an embarrassing faux pas at Gene Triplett’s service. As we were visiting outside UCO’s Heritage Room before the service, I noticed that people were signing a book that would be given Gene’ wife, Carol. So, I took my turn and signed it, as well. During the service Joe announced that the book had been signed for Carol by Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame members. Oops. I’m no Hall of Famer, so I can only apologize after the fact.

The continuing saga of Customer Service without the ‘Service’

The Hertz rental car storefront in Edmond

Editor’s note:  I’m pleased to reveal that we received a complete refund from Hertz on July 13, approximately three weeks after the fiasco described below occurred at the Edmond pickup location.  I spoke to Hertz customer service on June 27 and was promised the refund, but it didn’t happen until I posted a link to this article on Twitter (now X) and tagged Hertz. The company reached out via direct message about a week ago, and the refund showed up in our account today. Thank you, Hertz!

When my wife and I planned a 3-day getaway in Santa Fe recently, we debated whether to put the miles on our vehicle or rent a car. It’s approximately 550 miles one way from OKC to Santa Fe, NM.

Ultimately, we decided to rent a car and landed on Hertz because it has the reputation of being the nation’s No. 1 car rental company and because it has an Edmond storefront pickup location.

So, I went online, joined the Hertz ‘Gold Club’ and reserved a car with a $286 deposit for June 27 pickup at the Edmond location. We were promised a full-size SUV that would be a Chevy Blazer or something similar.

You know where this is headed.

We showed up the at Hertz Edmond location about 10:45 on the morning of Saturday the 27th and saw several vehicles outside the store, including a couple of Blazers.

But when I approached the door, I found it locked. I looked inside and saw no one behind the desk. Then I looked at the hours on the door, which said “closed Saturday and Sunday.”

Wait! The website said open 9 am-noon on Saturday. Plus, I had stopped by the Hertz office midweek and the customer service rep assured me that we could pick up our vehicle by 11 am Saturday.

A woman who was sitting on some nearby steps as I walked up to the store approached me and said she also was there to pick up her rental car.  She had been trying to reach customer service without any luck.

My wife, Paula, and 7-year old grandson walked up, and we milled around together for a while deciding what to do.

I finally called the Hertz customer service number and only got an AI ‘representative’ that provided no answers. My wife and I decided to return to our car to wait and see if a Hertz employee showed up.

Our goal was to pick up the rental vehicle, drive to our house, load it and head west toward Santa Fe.  I assured Paula that someone would be there by noon because there were several rental cars in the lot.

She scoffed at my naivety.

There were perhaps four or five other customers who showed up, some to drop off vehicles and others to pick up a rental.

So we sat and waited.

When no one showed by 12:05 pm, I began searching for ways to reach a live person at Hertz customer service. I decided to ask ChatGPT, the AI bot, how to reach a human. Chatbot told me to say “request an agent or request a representative” multiple times when speaking to the company’s robot agent.

I took the advice and the robot voice told me it would connect me to a human representative. After about a 10-minute delay, a real person came on the line.

We explained our dilemma, and she said she would call the local store’s number. She came back on and said no one answered. She then suggested that we head to the airport to rent a car from the Hertz office there. We told her that we were not driving all the way to the OKC airport and then back to Edmond before loading the car and driving to Santa Fe.

The Hertz rep then said she would cancel our reservation and provide a full refund within 7 to 10 business days. That was the first promising result of the day.

We went home, packed our car and hit the road, swallowing our frustrations.

The vacation went off without a hitch, and we had a great time in New Mexico. After we came back home midweek, I decided to drop by the Hertz store and ask about what happened to us and all the other people who showed up at the closed Edmond location on June 27.

So, I drove to the store and walked in.

“Why was there no one here to provide a rental vehicle to us and other customers waiting outside last Saturday?”

A man I assume to be the manager said the store was supposed to be open. Someone was supposed to be there to provide keys to customers like us who had rented a vehicle, or there to drop one off.

“That person is no longer employed by Hertz,” the man told me.

That wasn’t exactly an apology, but provided an answer. I should have asked why there is no local number posted for customers to call when something like this arises. Or why the sign on the door says “closed Saturday and Sunday” when the website says open 9 to noon on Saturday.

Or how about a little something for the effort to keep us as a customer?

But it’s behind us now. It’s been a week and we’re back to our day-to-day routine.

I’m still waiting for the promised refund.

BONUS CONTENT: This isn’t our first go-round with alleged ‘customer service’ from a major U.S. corporation. A few years ago, our daughter’s flight from DFW to OKC was canceled by American Airlines and we drove to Dallas to pick her up. It was the final leg of a flight from Fort Lauderdale. We appealed for a refund of the DFW-OKC leg, which finally happened but not before I wrote a blog post about the experience and the lack of, well, customer service.
Read it here.

Hello muddah hello fadduh, here we are at Camp … Apple?

It’s summer, so my grandson and I went to camp this week. But it’s not what you might expect.

Solomon and I spent about an hour and half at Apple’s Penn Square store participating in Apple Camp, which tried to light a spark of creativity in ‘campers’ aged 6-10.

Apple Camp is free and part of the tech giant’s “Today at Apple” program that provides education for using products like iPhones, iPads, shooting photos and videos, and more.

So, when I saw that Apple Camp was designed for Solomon’s age group and would show him how to create content on his iPad rather than merely consuming games and videos, I signed us up.

Solomon wasn’t so certain about participating at first, but warmed up to the lesson provided by friendly camp leaders (counselors?) John and Bill.

They showed the young campers (and their adult chaperones) how to draw colorful characters using the Freeform app on the iPad. But first, they instructed the kids on how to use an Apple Pencil to unlock various markers and brushes they could use to draw. The campers even learned how to incorporate emojis into the art.

Now that’s a life skill.

Apple Camp leader John shows the young campers how to use drawing tools on the iPad.

John and Bill were positive and upbeat as they encouraged the kids to imagine their own ‘super power’ and then draw a character that would portray their power and use it to help others. Turned out it was a collaborative camp, so the kids swapped iPads with one another and completed the drawing started by their peers.

One kid got Solomon’s stick figure, all black doodling, while we were handed that camper’s tablet that showcased big bold colorful lines. We weren’t there to compare talent, but I’m pretty sure I know which kid will become a graphic designer.

What I liked about the Apple Camp was that it showed very young kids that the iPad offers more than YouTube videos or PBS games. If kids can dream it up, they can draw it up on the tablet, using their fingers if they don’t have an Apple Pencil.

And they got a free T-shirt in the deal.

The downside of the experience was that the instructors threw a lot of how-to information at the kids from the very start of the ‘camp,’ and then — boom — the kids were on their own to find the tools to sketch and draw their characters.

Now, when Solomon got stuck trying to find the right tool or erase something we didn’t mean to make, the camp leaders jumped in to show him the solution. Solomon picked up finding and using the markers and erasers much faster than me.

As we left the Apple Store, Solomon offered a non-committal ‘it was OK’ when I asked him if he enjoyed the experience.

So, I think we will skip the upcoming “Make a Theme Song” using GarageBand on iPad. We’re back to watching Handyman Hal and endless Legos videos on our iPad.

I tried.

BONUS CONTENT: My wife will tell you that hanging out at the Apple store is like Nirvana to me. And it is. I fanboy over all their technology and have since, well, the late 1970s when I first read about the two Steves and their scrappy startup.

That means, of course, that I’ve written plenty about Apple over the years on this blog. Here are a few links to past posts, if you share my interest in the company.

Fondly recalling my first love in computing

I’m a Mac (fanboy) Apple ads across the years

Still an Apple fanboy after all these years

Apple in 2024: Nobody likes a bully

‘HAL’ built our vacation itinerary

Historic Santa Fe cathedral (photo provided by ChatGPT)

One of my favorite things about taking a vacation is planning and researching the destination. We’re headed to Santa Fe in a couple of weeks, a place we’ve never visited.

So I’ve been all over the city of SantaFe.org ‘plan your trip’ website, as well as taking suggestions on things to do and places to eat from folks who’ve been there.

Our friend Linda Lynn gave us some great tips on restaurants to try and favorite museums to visit, as well as stops along the way between OKC and Santa Fe.

She gave me museum ideas, areas to visit and some inviting restaurants such as Tomasita’s and The Shed. I’ve been all over their websites since Linda provided the tips. My mouth is watering in anticipation.

And since AI seems to be carving out a prominent place in our lives, whether we welcome it or not, I’ve asked my virtual assistant I’ll call HAL to give me a two-day itinerary for visiting Santa Fe. Our party will be composed of two adults and a 7-year old.

I was pleasantly surprised by the detailed agenda, complete with photos, that my AI friend built for me in less than 30 seconds.

So, I thought I would share  the itinerary HAL provided. Our new AI overlords may be useful after all, if they don’t annihilate all of us first. (Just kidding HAL! maybe)

I welcome your suggestions on other Santa Fe locales to visit, as well.

Here’s the Santa Fe agenda ChatGPT built for me.:

“Santa Fe is a great destination with a 7-year-old because it mixes history, outdoor activities, art, and some surprisingly kid-friendly attractions. Here’s a balanced 2-day itinerary that won’t feel rushed.’

Downtown Santa Fe (photo provided by ChatGPT)

Day 1: Historic Santa Fe & Family Fun

8:00 AM – Breakfast

Try a local favorite such as Tia Sophia’s for New Mexican breakfast dishes and pancakes for the youngster.

9:30 AM – Explore the Santa Fe Plaza

Visit Santa Fe Plaza, the heart of the city. Kids enjoy the open space, street musicians, and shops.

10:30 AM – Cathedral & Loretto Chapel

Walk to:
– Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi
– Loretto Chapel
The “miraculous staircase” at Loretto Chapel is often fascinating to children.

Noon – Lunch

Grab casual lunch near the Plaza.

1:30 PM – New Mexico History Museum

Visit New Mexico History Museum. The exhibits on Native American and Spanish history are engaging and interactive.

3:00 PM – Railyard District

Head to Santa Fe Railyard and nearby park areas where kids can run around while adults browse shops.

5:30 PM – Dinner

Enjoy an early dinner at Tomasita’s, known for classic New Mexican cuisine.

Evening

Return to the Plaza area for an evening stroll. The cooler temperatures and illuminated adobe buildings create a wonderful atmosphere.

Day 2: Meow Wolf & Mountain Scenery

Meow Wolf house (photo provided by ChatGPT)


8:00 AM – Breakfast

9:00 AM – Meow Wolf

Spend the morning at Meow Wolf’s House of Eternal Return.
This is often the highlight for children and many adults. Expect colorful rooms, secret passages, interactive exhibits, and lots of exploration. Allow 2–3 hours.

Noon – Lunch

1:30 PM – Santa Fe Children’s Museum

Visit Santa Fe Children’s Museum. It’s geared toward younger children and provides hands-on activities.

3:30 PM – Scenic Mountain Drive

Drive up into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains toward Hyde Memorial State Park. Even a short walk offers cooler temperatures, beautiful views, and a chance for the child to burn off energy.

Mountain scenery near Santa Fe (photo provided by ChatGPT)

6:00 PM – Farewell Dinner

Consider dinner at The Shed or another local New Mexican restaurant.
—

If your child loves trains, animals, or science…

You could substitute one activity with:
– Santa Fe Children’s Museum
– Museum of International Folk Art (huge toy and miniature collections)
– Randall Davey Audubon Center (easy nature walks and wildlife)
For a first-time 2-day visit with a 7-year-old, I’d make Meow Wolf, Santa Fe Plaza, and a mountain drive to Hyde Memorial State Park the three must-do experiences. They provide the best mix of Santa Fe’s unique culture, scenery, and family fun.’

So, thanks Linda, our actual human friend, and HAL.  We looking forward to the trip.