The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Fairy-Tale Rise - The New York Times

On the court, Kendrick Perkins, 28, is the meanest-looking man in the league; off it, he is a friendly OKC citizen. Kevin Durant, 24, is the Thunder’s nice-guy superstar. Russell Westbrook, 23, says when he was growing up in Los Angeles, he didn’t even know Oklahoma existed. Thabo Sefolosha, 28, is a product of the street-ball courts of Switzerland. Serge Ibaka, 23. In Congo, Ibaka’s first coach taught him using a water bottle instead of a ball. Nick Collison, 32, is the Thunder’s oldest and longest-tenured player. On the court, Kendrick Perkins, 28, is the meanest-looking man in the league; off it, he is a friendly OKC citizen. By Sam Anderson N.B.A. scoring champions are, as a rule, weirdos and reprobates and in some cases diagnosable sociopaths. Something about dominating your opponent, publicly, more or less every day of your life, in the most visible aspect of your sport, tends to either warp your spirit or to be possible only to those whose spirits are already warped. Michael Jor

On the court, Kendrick Perkins, 28, is the meanest-looking man in the league; off it, he is a friendly OKC citizen. Kevin Durant, 24, is the Thunder’s nice-guy superstar. Russell Westbrook, 23, says when he was growing up in Los Angeles, he didn’t even know Oklahoma existed. Thabo Sefolosha, 28, is a product of the street-ball courts of Switzerland. Serge Ibaka, 23. In Congo, Ibaka’s first coach taught him using a water bottle instead of a ball. Nick Collison, 32, is the Thunder’s oldest and longest-tenured player. On the court, Kendrick Perkins, 28, is the meanest-looking man in the league; o