August 30, 2010

If you want to know how big a star Kevin Durant has become, search his name on Twitter.
The Thunder swingman had the Internet's popular social-networking site buzzing after he led Team USA to another victory at the FIBA World Championships. He'd scored 27 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. He'd almost single-handedly held off Brazil's upset bid.

Durant was being talked about not only by folks from across the United States but also by people from around the world. There were 140-character comments in Spanish, Turkish, Italian and Portuguese.

Playing in the world championships is only broadening Durant's popularity. It is growing his brand. It is widening his stardom.

That, Thunder fans, is great news for Oklahoma City.

Small-market teams like the Thunder face many challenges, but one of the biggest is being able to keep superstars. They want to be paid big bucks, they want to win championships and they want to be able to become megastars, and sometimes, a small-market club can't provide all of that.

The Thunder, though, has already shown that it can pay the big bucks by offering Durant a maxed-out contract extension earlier this summer.

Durant, in turn, showed that he believes this franchise is committed to winning by signing the contract without a player option, a clause that would've allowed him to become a free agent after the fourth year of the deal.

Durant didn't want it.

The Americans were pressed by Brazil on Monday at the World Championship before holding on to win 70-68. They all but locked up Group B with a 3-0 record and group games left against flyweights Iran and Tunisia.

Forward Kevin Durant scored a game-high 27 points for Team USA.

Brazil had a chance to tie the score with 3.5 seconds left when guard Marcelo Huertas, after being fouled by Derrick Rose, stepped to the foul line. But he missed the first shot. He intentionally missed the second and Brazil rebounded before Leandro Barbosa missed a difficult layup at the buzzer.

The Americans trailed by as much as 30-22 in the first half and were down 46-43 at halftime. The score was tied 62-62 with eight minutes left in the game before the Americans scored four straight points to take the lead for good. But Brazil wouldn't go away.

After Durant had averaged just 22 minutes in the first two games, coach Mike Krzyzewski turned him lose, and he played 39 minutes. With a battle on his hands, Krzyzewski shortened the bench considerably. Danny Granger and Stephen Curry didn't play and Eric Gordon, Kevin Love and Tyson Chandler each logged just five minutes.

The night before the 2008 draft, Knicks team president Donnie Walsh was torn between Anthony Randolph and Danilo Gallinari.

According to Randolph, he was brought in for a secret workout on the eve of the draft for a second look and thought he was Knicks-bound. According to a source, the Knicks' college scouting branch gave Walsh a final analysis that Randolph could become an All-Star in his third or fourth season and recommended he be chosen over Gallinari.

Two years later, the Knicks have both forwards in the bag and perhaps in a sizeable starting lineup. The 6-foot-10 Randolph could play small forward, the 6-foot-10 Gallinari at shooting guard and Amar'e' Stoudemire at power forward.

Randolph and Gallinari met each other for the first time earlier this week during workouts out at the Knicks Westchester compound.

"I knew he was a a great shooter, but working out with him now, you really see it," Randolph told The Post yesterday at the Knicks' kids camp at the Ross School in East Hampton. "That would be a very fine lineup -- three guys nearly 7 feet."

If Randolph is as good as the Knicks think, Gallinari will have to play shooting guard to keep the ex-Warrior as a starter. The Knicks do not have a legit starting shooting guard, especially with Kelenna Azubuike unlikely to be 100 percent when training camp begins Sept. 25 as he recovers from knee patella surgery.

Randolph's addition in the David Lee sign-and-trade could turn into the summer's real steal. His progress was stunted by multiple ankle injuries (torn ligament, fracture) last season and coach Don Nelson's erratic use of him.

"I think the fans don't know [how good I could be]," Randolph said. "It works to my advantage. When they see me play, it will be, 'Wow.' Expectations are low. It works in my favor. I've improved every year and was having a good season before I got hurt."

Randolph was 175 pounds on draft night, prompting Walsh to get cold feet.

"I was a stick," Randolph said.

He has bulked up to 225 pounds and just turned 21 in July.

"I've just scratched the surface," Randolph said. "I'm a baby. Even through all the adversity, I got better every year."

It didn't matter who won or lost. It didn't matter what I had written in recent days, weeks or months. After Pistons games, the team's media-relations guru, Matt Dobek, would see me in the press room, smile and ask, "Did you rip us?"

The answer was almost always "no." It is a forceful no today. Because today, I'm writing about Matt.

Last weekend, Matt Dobek took his own life. I suspect that a lot of fans did not even know who he was until he died. That's a shame, because good people like Matt, who was one of several employees fired by the Pistons in May, are an essential part of the sports world.

Most fans do not know (or need to know) about the tug-of-war that goes on behind the scenes between reporters and athletes. Athletes often don't want to give interviews; reporters, of course, would like to interview point guards as they dribble up the court during playoff games.

And in the middle are media-relations people. It can be a thankless job. But the best ones can bring both sides together in a way that helps the people who matter most: the fans. Matt was one of the best.

When he smiled and asked "did you rip us?" the key was not the question but the smile. It was a subtle acknowledgment of the tension beneath the surface. Matt never let that tension overwhelm the room.