OKC Thunder Podcast: Loud Noises - episode 17; All-Star Game, trade deadline & Cleveland Cavaliers with Fear the Sword

All-Star Weekend ended up being way more entertaining than I anticipated. That's likely due to the fact that Russell Westbrook became the first player in NBA history to win unanimous back-to-back All-Star MVPs, and upstaged the entire Kobe Bryant farewell tour in the process. It's also nice to just have a break where we don't have to stress about how the Thunder can possibly figure out their defense in order to make a legitimate playoff run.

Still, the games come back on Friday, and the trade deadline the day before, so there's plenty of juicy stuff to talk about. The Thunder take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday, a team that - like the Thunder - seems to be an afterthought to the Warriors and Spurs despite still being a juggernaut in their own right. Not to mention both have generational superstars that you can never count out.

To talk about that, I welcomed Justin Rowan (@Cavanada) from SB Nation's Fear the Sword. He hosts the Fear the Sword Podcast and had plenty to say on the Cavs' place in the league relative to the Western Conference powers, as well as potential targets at the trade deadline.

Other topics covered include: All-Star Weekend festivities, the parallels between Kyrie Irving and Westbrook, is KD better than Lebron? The pleasant surprise of Australian and Kiwi NBA fans, and why winning isn't everything.

As always, you can subscribe to the Loud Noises Podcast on iTunes. While you're there, we'd really appreciate if you could leave a review!