Thunder's Unsung Heroes

By Addam Francisco

When you think of the Oklahoma City Thunder, you think of players like *Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka *and other players that are in the immediate rotation. However, no one tends to pay much attention to the players that may not get as much spotlight as others, specifically talking about Jeremy Lamb and Perry Jones.

These guys really deserve more credit than they receive. Jeremy was a star back at the University of Connecticut and Perry was a star at Baylor University, both of them entering the NBA early after only going a couple of years in college. When they were added to the Oklahoma City Thunder, a lot of people expected the “college” version of these guys, and expected them to put up the same numbers they did in college, but that hasn’t been the case so far in OKC. Jeremy has had a hard time finding a rhythm in this offense and Perry has shown little spurts of greatness, but he plays behind established players on this team, so it’s safe to say that he plays a position that is pretty loaded with talent and he happens to be the weaker link of the three of four that play the same position as him.

Many ego’s in the NBA may be severely effected by this, after having such a successful college career, but these two players have shown great team spirit and dedication during this time while embracing their role on this team and pushing other players on the team to become greater players. Jeremy and Perry are known for their antics on the sideline after big plays by other players. You may catch them doing little dances on the bench, or see them pumping up other players during and immediately following the player introductions before the game. No one really gives these guys on the team enough credit, but having positive energy on the bench helps lift everyone on the team up, especially when the crowd isn’t as upbeat as hey probably should be.

Both of these guys are still young by NBA standards and still have a clear future, and they know that. Probably why they have such upbeat attitudes seemingly all of the time. Jones averages 3.4 points and 2 rebounds per game and Jeremy Lamb averages 7 points and 2 rebounds per game for their career thus far. Each averaging less than 8 minutes of play per game this season. It’s clear, with more production these players will be very productive and valuable to this Thunder team in other ways.