Lindy Waters III Has a Unique Connection With OKC Thunder Playoff Run
The Oklahoma City Thunder are set to embark on another playoff run, but Oklahoma City swingman Lindy Waters III has a unique connection to the Thunder's postseason past.
As the Oklahoma City Thunder (57-25) return to the playoffs for the first time since the 2019-20 season and the first time in the Paycom Center since the 2018-19 campaign, the excitement and build-up has reached a fever pitch.
From rising star Jalen Williams posting throwback pictures to Bricktown during the 2010s playoff runs, defensive ace Lu Dort admitting he has gone back to watch clips of the first era of playoff basketball out of excitement and even their steady star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sounding like a kid on Christmas morning when discussing the anticipation for the Thunder's home playoff crowd, the team - like the fans - are chopping at the bit for Sunday's late-night tip.
While this will be a special postseason for every fan and player, the connection runs deeper for Norman, Oklahoma Native Lindy Waters III.
Waters III has seen every form of basketball in Oklahoma. The 26-year-old remembers Bricktown fostering the New Orleans Hornets after the devastating Hurricane Katrina, played high school ball at Norman North alongside Trae Young, was a star at Oklahoma State University, ran the semi-pro circuit with the Enid Outlaws, trying out for the OKC Blue before earning his first two-way pact with the Thunder in 2022.
What started as just a hometown hero fairy tale has transformed into Waters III again being converted to a standard NBA pact. The Oklahoman is a year removed from logging postseason minutes for the Bricktown boys in the 2023 NBA Play-in Tournament.
The former Cowboy had a first-hand seat in watching Oklahoma transform from a football-only state to an ever-improving basketball landscape.
"It goes back to when I was a kid and we were lucky enough to host New Orleans when (the hurricane) happened... Getting the Supersonics here, it's just slowly becoming a landmark for Oklahoma," Waters III said at Practice on Wednesday.
Waters III was a kid when the Supersonics left Seattle for Oklahoma City and it represents a special moment for his family. The 26-year-old reflected on being able to take trips to the city with his dad to attend Thunder games, even being in the building for Russell Westbrook's iconic flip-shot.
"I never heard anything louder. It was insane," Waters III smiled as he recalled the watershed moment in Westbrook's career and Oklahoma City basketball as a whole.
Now, Waters III is in the position to bring his dad to Thunder playoff games. Only this time, they can not sit together, as the Norman native will be in uniform on Sunday.
As the rest of the roster wonders what it will feel like to play in front of a rowdy Oklahoma City crowd on Sunday, Waters III understands exactly what the moment will bring.
"Oklahoma City and Loud City, we're back. I think it's gonna be even louder and I'm just grateful to be a part of it," the Thunder swingman said on Wednesday.
Waters IIi will be a pivotal piece in Oklahoma's basketball history, playing at each level, delivering the OKC Blue their first championship and having a first-hand account of each era of Thunder basketball.
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