Brett Bower

@stephenfishbach Awful AWFUL twist and further proof that Probst has lost his mind. And he needs to stop blaming his bad decisions on the fans as if we actually chose something that ridiculous.

The biggest problem is how insanely unbalanced this is. If you win, and you put a name in the urn, that player still gets to vote and can still play their shot in the dark. You’re also voting without consulting with your alliance in a way that could deeply piss someone off at camp when they find out what you’ve done. And at 11 people isn’t enough to have a decisive impact. Conversely if you lose, you lose your vote, your shot in the dark and have to announce to everyone that you’re a ripe target. Winning is marginally good, potentially bad. Losing is disastrous.

To my Oklahoma family; this piece comes straight from the heart. I hope you’ll take a moment to read it and feel what I felt. Thank you for allowing me to be a small part of it. I came to @okcthunder to play basketball. I left carrying 168 lives. When I was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, I was thinking about basketball, nothing more. I didn’t know that before I ever stepped on the court, this place would show me something that would stay with me far longer than any game. Like any player, my mind was on the game. A new team, a new city, a new opportunity. I expected the usual routine when I landed in Oklahoma City. Physicals, practices, meetings, and a jersey waiting in a locker. But before any of that, Sam Presti pulled me aside and told me there was somewhere we needed to go. He didn’t explain much, and I didn’t think to ask. I was focused on the next step in my career. What I didn’t understand was that, before I could represent the place I was about to play for, I needed to understand it. So instead of heading to the facility, he took me to the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. I walked in without knowing what I was about to see, and within minutes, everything slowed down. There are 168 chairs at the memorial, each one representing a life lost on April 19, 1995. They are arranged in quiet rows, each engraved with a name, each standing where a person once stood in that building. Then you notice something that is impossible to process the first time you see it. Some of the chairs are smaller. They belong to children. There is no speech that prepares you for that, no headline that captures it. You simply stand there, and the silence carries a kind of weight that is hard to describe but impossible to ignore. As you walk through the memorial, you pass between two gates marked 9:01 and 9:03. At first, they seem like simple numbers, but then you understand what they hold. One marks the last minute before the attack. The other marks the first minute after. And in between those two gates is 9:02, the moment when everything changed. That minute does not feel like history when you are standing there. It feels present. The reflecting pool stretches across what used to be a city street, its surface calm and still. When you look into it, you do not just see water. You see yourself standing in a place where unimaginable loss occurred, and for a moment, everything else in your life becomes quieter. Nearby stands the Survivor Tree, an American elm that was damaged in the blast but endured. It is not untouched. Its scars are part of what it represents. But it is still standing, and in that, it carries a kind of strength that does not need to be explained. We did not speak much while we were inside. It did not feel like a place for conversation. Some places ask for words. This one asks for reflection. When we stepped outside, Sam Presti looked me in the eye and said, “This is what this state has been through.” Then he said something I will never forget. “Every time you step on that court, you are not just playing in front of fans. You are playing for a state that carries this with it. Give them everything you have. They deserve that.” In that moment, basketball felt different. Not smaller, but clearer. Because what I had just seen was not only about what was lost. It was about what remained. A state that had experienced unimaginable pain and still chose to come together, to rebuild, and to move forward without losing its humanity. From that day on, every time I stepped on the court, I carried that with me. On the nights when I was tired, when I was hurt, when I was dealing with challenges that felt heavy in the moment, I would think about those chairs, about that minute, about the people behind those names. And I was reminded that what I was going through did not compare to what this state had endured. oklahoman.com/story/opinion/…

@CK9102025 @hunteroftods It definitely does matter. Everyone who plays gets paid more the longer they last. Though in this specific instance, I think they would pay Chrissy and Coach the same amount.

@hunteroftods What does it matter? They were both getting voted out at the same time, one had to go first it really doesn’t matter. Good grief

Wait did I miss the reason on why Chrissy had her torch snuffed before Coach? #survivor #survivor50

@hunteroftods “Ladies first” is the only thing I can think of.

@okcthunder Heads up that your app still currently has the wrong dates listed starting with Game 4 of that series.

Our round 1 schedule is locked in ⚡️🔒

@RickHeathSports @ForrestBennett @okcthunder Hopefully a Tulsa station, too. 👍 @okcthunder My 80-year-old Mom in Tulsa is one of the biggest Thunder fans on the planet, and I hate the fact that it may become so much harder for her to watch games since she’s in assisted living & struggles with technology now. 🏀 #ThunderUp

@ForrestBennett @okcthunder KSBI is the New Home for the Thunder

The Fanduel era is ending in OKC. And this is your reminder that other NBA franchises have Over The Air media deals w/ local stations. Phoenix Suns put 70 regular season games on free local TV. @okcthunder can do this, too. Join me in encouraging them to do the right thing.

@Whateve63092767 @CrainNBA People forget that last year’s Denver series & Finals were a buzzer beater away from being Thunder in 5. And because he kept it secret until after the championship parade, people also magically forget that our 2nd best scorer played every single playoff game with torn ligaments.

@CrainNBA Bring it on tbh. Then we won’t have to hear the bs about Gordon’s hammy anymore, as if the nuggets had a chance and weren’t lucky to be in a game 7 to begin with.

If the Thunder does draw a playoff path that includes the Nuggets and Spurs back-to-back, that would be one of the more impressive roads to the NBA Finals in quite some time.

@aiden168 He keeps using his last name and it drives me crazy.

@TheAllanAguirre Basically, I don’t think Emily could ever be invited back to play Survivor again. Not a person on this planet would ever be able to tell her anything. #Survivor #Survivor50

Dee becoming yet another Survivor player to become Victim to thinking she can tell Emily a Secret #Survivor50

@thatfunnylog I’d have to see that segment again, but I think he actually did 6, 8, 5.

Is it me or was that just not a haiku it was 5,8,5 not 5,7,5 #survivor50

@_BrookeB13 And Coach clearly doesn’t know what a haiku is, LOL 😎 #Survivor #Survivor50

Coach... people actually wanna have fun on survivor #Survivor50

@MattSandersNBA It’s probably super obvious, but it’s slipping right by me. What is D***m S******o

Getting to play the Lakers in the second round with potentially no Luka or AR, while simultaneously getting to watch DEN/SAS exhaust each other. I know we’ve been hurt by the words D***m S******o bc of the 2019 Blazers debacle, but I wouldn’t hate it. Lol

@johnnymcenid @royceyoung Me too! 👍

@royceyoung I have the bubble playoff shirts from that series, I was a virtual fan 👍🏀

With Danilo Gallinari in town, fun to think back on that 2019-20 Thunder team that exceeded all expectations to win the equivalent of 50 games (before the Covid shutdown) and the 5-seed. Chris Paul, a young SGA, a young Lu Dort, Gallo, Steven Adams -- that group took the Rockets to 7 games and represented OKC so well in the bubble. A great Thunder team to remember.

@Zack_Pearson It drives me crazy how Jeff tries to blame it all on the fans. No fan would’ve ever voted for this. It was just a basic survey of “no twists, minimal twists, or lots of twists.” Once 63% voted for lots of twists, he could do whatever he wanted and say the fans chose it. Ugh

I hope #Survivor 50 picks up. Last night was a disaster, IMO. Twists are really ruining the game. You lose a vote in a game of Jenga not by your choice and you go home. Same thing happened with Q. Then you have the Billie Eilish Boomarang idol, which is essentially worthless. A player found 2, couldn't even use one and was gone. I get the "Blood Moon" concept. But that was a mess. Should have just had a 17-person tribal. The fan voting for these twists is ruining what should be a great season. @SnuffinTorches

@JeffProbst You’ve tried the whole “not having a vote” thing for like 5 years now. It isn’t working. STOP IT. Just stop it. 🔥 And we also need to get back to chaotic merge votes with everyone. Please quit destroying your own show. 😯 #Survivor #Survivor50

@thinkit_voiceit Go to cbs.com/survivor (episode will be posted soon if not already)

How do I watch #Survivor tonight? It didn't record on my YouTube TV.

@BrandonRahbar That has to be the first time I’ve ever heard Chet introduced as a guard.

Thunder starters vs Knicks SGA Dort JDub Chet Hartenstein 📺NBC/Peacock

@UrATXRealtor_ @NBAonPrime Don’t remember which road games, but there have been a couple recently where it was very clearly heard on the broadcast. P.S. I live in OKC & am a Thunder fan, so don’t hate me. 😀 But it’s cool that Thunder & Spurs are back to being the powerhouses of the Western Conference.

@NBAonPrime Anyone have video of SGA getting MVP chants on the road

Wemby walks off to MVP chants in Milwaukee 🗣️

@BrandonRahbar Awesome stat! 👍 I’m gonna guess only Boston tops us in playoff appearances during that timeframe.

Oklahoma City Thunder have officially clinched a playoff spot. OKC is the first team to clinch a spot this season. This is the Thunder's 13th playoff appearance since 2010.. #2 in the NBA.

@imdeondra @wendellholland Mike has also been incredibly rude to fans of the show.

@wendellholland This might be an unpopular opinion but a whole millionaire show runner being the leader (at least in this case) of voting out regular everyday people dosen’t sit right with me . I don’t understand why he’s on the show.

Throw the season away.