A look back at one of the most exciting NBA teams of recent years…

A deep dive into the lives and careers of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden, using their entangled paths as a lens to view the myriad facets of the player empowerment era.

It’s one of the greatest “what ifs” in sports – what if the Thunder had kept Durant, Westbrook, and Harden, three of the league’s young, exciting stars and future MVPs, together? Their departure from Oklahoma City begins two decades of repercussions for basketball and the formation of the modern NBA.

When We Were Young and Fearless is The Social Network for basketball. As he touches on universal themes of loyalty, money, power, friendship, class and lost innocence, Abrams ponders the central irony of athletic greatness: how much is an individual willing to sacrifice to win in a team sport?

“If they had stayed together, definitely would have won a championship.” It is a truth universally known that mentioning the KD-Westbrook-Harden era of the Thunder on social media will generate at least one response along these lines. It’s hard to disagree, given the team’s record and just how much of a force they were. In When We Were Young and Fearless, Jonathan Abrams gives readers a well-paced, well-written account of those all-too-brief years, before bringing the story up-to-date. I really enjoyed this. Continue reading →