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The Oklahoma City Thunder introduced their 2026 draft class on Friday afternoon at The Hamm Institute in downtown OKC.
Thunder General Manager Sam Presti was joined on stage by Aday Mara, Bennett Stirtz and Otega Oweh for a question and answer session with the gathered media. In case you missed it, we've collected some of the best quotes from the rookie press conference.
Presti: "Excited to get these guys started. All of them encompass the type of competitiveness, intelligence for the game, long, hard work and hours that they've put into the gym.
And the one thing I'd also add is every one of these guys has come through different circumstances. You could come from Zaragoza, Spain. You could come from a Division II school. You could grow up in a household with pretty competitive family members that will drive you and push you and show you how tough you have to be to get to this level. Everyone's gone through their own path.
Now we join together to see if we can continue to explore their potential together. We couldn't be more excited to have everybody with us."
Mara: "I think obviously the years before, you watch this team as a fan, and just by watching it on TV, you can see the good chemistry that they all have and the good relationship. So I'm super grateful that I'm coming to this environment, to this team, because after being in Michigan and knowing what you have to do to win the championship, like one of the biggest things is to have a really good relationship with the players. So I'm very grateful to be here."
Stirtz:"I'm just excited about creating a relationship with the guys and winning. Like it's super important for all three of us to be around winning, and we have to maintain that, and we have to come in ready to learn.
We're going to make mistakes, but we've got to be ready to make mistakes and learn from all the other guys that have made and won The Finals. We've just got to be ready to learn and put our learning hats on."
Oweh: "I'm obviously super familiar with OKC. Obviously Norman is not too far from here. It's really just a full circle moment. I know the atmosphere is all basketball really because this is what OKC, they live and die basketball. So I'm kind of used to it already.
I'm excited to be in that environment. I got some good practice my first two years and then went to another school where they also live and die basketball and breathe it. So it's definitely something I'm excited and used to."
Continue reading...
Thunder General Manager Sam Presti was joined on stage by Aday Mara, Bennett Stirtz and Otega Oweh for a question and answer session with the gathered media. In case you missed it, we've collected some of the best quotes from the rookie press conference.
Presti: "Excited to get these guys started. All of them encompass the type of competitiveness, intelligence for the game, long, hard work and hours that they've put into the gym.
And the one thing I'd also add is every one of these guys has come through different circumstances. You could come from Zaragoza, Spain. You could come from a Division II school. You could grow up in a household with pretty competitive family members that will drive you and push you and show you how tough you have to be to get to this level. Everyone's gone through their own path.
Now we join together to see if we can continue to explore their potential together. We couldn't be more excited to have everybody with us."
Mara: "I think obviously the years before, you watch this team as a fan, and just by watching it on TV, you can see the good chemistry that they all have and the good relationship. So I'm super grateful that I'm coming to this environment, to this team, because after being in Michigan and knowing what you have to do to win the championship, like one of the biggest things is to have a really good relationship with the players. So I'm very grateful to be here."
Stirtz:"I'm just excited about creating a relationship with the guys and winning. Like it's super important for all three of us to be around winning, and we have to maintain that, and we have to come in ready to learn.
We're going to make mistakes, but we've got to be ready to make mistakes and learn from all the other guys that have made and won The Finals. We've just got to be ready to learn and put our learning hats on."
Oweh: "I'm obviously super familiar with OKC. Obviously Norman is not too far from here. It's really just a full circle moment. I know the atmosphere is all basketball really because this is what OKC, they live and die basketball. So I'm kind of used to it already.
I'm excited to be in that environment. I got some good practice my first two years and then went to another school where they also live and die basketball and breathe it. So it's definitely something I'm excited and used to."
Continue reading...
