The Oklahoma City Thunder have a tight-knit group. The young roster has allowed several players to relate to each other as they all have similar experiences in the league.
That bond doesn’t just stop beyond the court. It also translates digitally. As the Thunder prepare for Game 3 with a chance to go up 3-0 over the New Orleans Pelicans, Lu Dort revealed several of his teammates share a defensive-themed group chat.
Dort said the group chat’s purpose is to send footage of defensive plays to help improve each other on that end of the floor. It’s helped as the Thunder finished with the fourth-best defensive rating in the league this season.
“It’s kinda some new stuff every day. We watch a lot of clips,” Dort said. “Whenever we got something new to talk about, we’ll be there talking about it.”
He also listed the members of the five-person chat: himself, Cason Wallace, Aaron Wiggins, Keyontae Johnson and assistant coach David Akinyooye.
This is an interesting peek behind the curtains of the Thunder’s relationship dynamics. Dort is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and has done a wonderful job of limiting Brandon Ingram through two games of the first-round series.
The fact they share a group chat shows this group’s togetherness. Sharing information and being a knowledge sponge can only result in positives in both an individual and group level.
