OKC Afternoon Loud Links

Inside Hoops is reporting that Eric Maynor's surgery on his torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) was successful. While Maynor will still miss the rest of the season, he is expected to make a full recovery.

OKC Provides Lessons, Not Reassurance for Wizards | Bullets Forever

Prada writes a great follow-up to a Washington Post story about where the Thunder are and where the Wizards want to be. He also circles back to a great post that he did last season, which took a great look at the Thunder culture and even made reference to one of the posts that was featured here. If you think that's merely an excuse for me to mention "The Gnome Underpants Theory" again, you sir are correct.

Westbrook's Celtics Highlights | Youtube

Russell Westbrook played a phenomenal game Monday night when he was matched up against Rajon Rondo. Out of all the great plays in this clip though, two of them stand out to me the most. The first is the little 8 foot baseline put-back he has after his missed layup, and the second is his high-arching bank-shot that he hits in the lane. In watching and re-watching these shots, I see something in Westbrook's shooting mechanics that were not there before - a soft shooting touch.

It's Gotta Be the Beard | Hardwood Paroxysm

Apparently James Harden's beard not only makes his play more dynamic, but I daresay can cause a split in the space-time continuum that would make Doc Brown spazz out in appreciation.

Wolves Playing Chicken With Kevin Love | Sports Illustrated

You know what is a great way to undo all of the early season fanfare surrounding the Timberwolves? Low-balling their cornerstone franchise player, Kevin Love. With a little luck though, perhaps this will lead to an epic scene involving Tom Cruise and Love in the shower.

Top 5 JaVale McGee Dunk Fails | Dime

Only JaVale McGee would have a compilation like this one. Check that...his teammate Andray Blatche might have one too.

White Guys Do Most With Least? | HoopSpeak

Interesting.

Dwyane Wade Receives Neat Gifts | Ball Don't Lie

There must be something about becoming uber-rich that makes it socially acceptable to have big birthday parties for yourself after you reach the age of 22.

Team Photo at MLK Memorial Statue

Daily Thunder highlighted this photo, which was featured by Daequan Cook. What is most striking to me about it is that there are 16 members of the Thunder team in this picture. Think about that.