That KD Fourth of July? A historic day eases the pain, alters the mood around the holiday
Celebrate while relishing Thunder signings, OU moving to the SEC, OSU adding stability in Big 12.
Listen up, my fellow Oklahomans: I want you to grab those sparklers and firecrackers, light those grills and chill those adult beverages.
We are taking back the Fourth of July!
For almost a decade, this summer holiday has been a downer in our neck of the woods. Oh, we celebrate America's birthday with the best of them — 'Murica! Am I right?!?! — but the Fourth of July also carries a cloud of heartbreak and a sting of rejection.
It's the anniversary of Kevin Durant leaving the Thunder.
That ruined the holiday then and since for lots of Oklahomans.
But eight years after KD bolted for Golden State, Fourth of July week is looking way better for sports fans in our state. That's because July 1, 2024, was a day like no other in our history.
Everyone, Thunder fans, Sooner fans and Cowboy fans alike had reason to feel good Monday.
Let's start with the Thunder.
On the first day of NBA free agency, the Thunder made a huge splash. It not only extended and re-signed Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins, key reserves who have the talent to start but the humility to accept coming off the bench, but it also signed free agent Isaiah Hartenstein. The 7-footer who spent the past two years with the Knicks was the most sought-after big man in free agency.
Remember all the people who said the Thunder would never be able to sign good free agents because the market's too small and no NBA player would choose to live in Oklahoma City?
Hartenstein's signing blows that theory out of the water.
He chose Oklahoma City over New York City.
Granted, he also chose a huge payday. The Knicks offered a four-year, $72 million deal while the Thunder offered three years and $87 million. That's $18 million a year vs. $29 million, a significant difference.
Plus, you can live in OKC for slightly less than in NYC.
Yes, this signing cost the Thunder a sizeable chunk of change, but that's the cost of business when your business is being an NBA contender. And if this offseason has shown us anything — don't forget to include the deal that brought Alex Caruso to the Thunder — it's that Clay Bennett, Sam Presti and everyone else at Thunder HQ are throwing everything possible into making this a team capable of winning a title.
Hartenstein, after all, is a guy who could make the difference during a playoff series or two in the Western Conference. The West has all sorts of talented bigs. Nikola Jokic in Denver. Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert in Minnesota. Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio.
Remember how fearful Thunder enthusiasts were this past season about a first-round match-up against the Lakers? The single biggest reason for that was Anthony Davis.
No one knew how the Thunder would be able to handle him.
I'm not sure it would've after watching Dallas bigs Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively swing the series in the Mavericks' favor in the second round. OKC did as well guarding Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving as any team in the West, but the Thunder just didn't have enough answers for the lobs to and the rebounds by Gafford and Lively.
Add Hartenstein to the lineup with Chet Holmgren, and that dynamic would change a bunch.
Now, for the record, I'm not saying Hartenstein will start. I don't know what the Thunder's starting lineup will be. If Caruso replaces Josh Giddey in the starting lineup, who does Hartenstein replace? Or does the Thunder go bigger with Hartenstein starting and either Caruso or Lu Dort coming off the bench?
I'm not even sure Mark Daigneault knows the answer to those questions yet.
And that's OK. The Thunder coach doesn't have to make such decisions now. Quite honestly, who starts isn't nearly as important as who finishes, and with the players the Thunder now has signed for next season, it has many options. It can go super small. It can go twin towers. It could go heavy on lockdown defenders. It could even go traditional, though I don't see that as a strong likelihood.
Regardless, the options on this roster are bountiful, and that should be worrisome for the league and exciting for anyone who loves the Thunder.
This Fourth of July week may well be remembered one day as the time the Thunder turned itself into a champion.
But the Thunder isn't the only team from our neck of the woods that had a big July 1, 2024.
OU's membership in the SEC became official at midnight as did the Big 12's addition of four new schools. Of course, that signaled the severing of the Bedlam rivals as conference foes, and yet, both OU and OSU find themselves in good places moving forward.
The Sooners now reside on the most solid real estate in all of college athletics. The SEC is the granddaddy of all college conferences, in large part because SEC football is the granddaddy of the most important sport in college athletics.
Listen, almost nothing is certain in college athletics today. Because of the transfer portal and NIL, everything has become as unpredictable as a pack of middle schoolers.
You never know what might happen next.
But regardless, there is safety in the SEC, at least where finances and status are concerned. Once the football season starts, I'm not sure anyone is safe, but that's a column for another day.
OU is in an enviable spot — it joined the most exclusive of clubs, but when it did, the existing members felt like the Sooners made everything better.
It's rare to get something you so badly want while also giving others something they want, too.
So, yes, July 1, 2024, was a grand day for the Sooners.
But it was a pretty good day for the Cowboys, too.
The Big 12 made the addition of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah official. That bumps up conference membership to 16 schools, and in this era of conference realignment, bigger is better.
It wasn't that long ago that the Big 12 was a 10-member league, and when news broke almost three years ago that OU and Texas were headed to the SEC, the future of the Big 12 included only eight teams and seemed very uncertain.
Then, it added BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF.
Then, it added four more from the Pac-12.
Pilfering those four teams from another Power Five league showed a change in the tide for the Big 12. After being plundered by the SEC, the Big 12 had turned into the plunderer.
Heck, the moves ultimately started the dominos that felled the Pac-12.
Now, those four-corner schools are officially part of the Big 12, further solidifying its status and buoying its members. Again, nothing is certain in college athletics these days. Not in the Big 12. Not in the SEC. Not anywhere.
But rewind to the day OU and Texas officially voted to go to the SEC. If you'd have said then that by the time the Sooners and Longhorns moved, the Cowboys would be in a 16-team league that was one of four remaining power conferences, OSU types everywhere would've rejoiced at such a notion.
So, why not rejoice now?
July 1, 2024, was a day for OSU to celebrate, too.
I'm not suggesting that what happened Monday eases all the hard feelings about what happened eight years ago this week. There will always be some pain, disgust and even fury.
But later this week when the beverages start flowing and the burgers start sizzling and the fireworks start popping, let go of that disastrous Fourth of July. Talk instead about how you think the Sooners will do in the SEC. Or where the Cowboys will find a new Big 12 rival. Or who the Thunder will start with all these new players.
Take back Fourth of July, my fellow Oklahomans.
Now is the time.