The Thunder are collecting enemies

Lu Dort tripped Nikola Jokic and drew the eyes and ire of a dozen fandoms. Are the Thunder villains? Maybe, maybe not. But they are picking up enemies.

Good morning. Let's basketball.

Calling any NBA team "villains" these days seems dramatic, especially as the public eye fills with so many actual villains. Player movement, maximal access into the lives of pro athletes and opulent wealth among everyone involved defangs a lot of the villainy talk.

As such, color me skeptical that you can call the Thunder "villains" and have wide swaths of the populace agree. But the Thunder are indeed picking up lots of enemies.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander seems perfectly nice and normal, even beyond his Canadianness. But he's controversial. Doris Burke called out Shai's push-offs during a game that did not include the Thunder over the weekend. This is a lament increasing in volume, which indicates a broader comfort with folks in the business calling out OKC.

OKC's front office is coming under scrutiny after successfully executing a multi-year tank ... and then snitching on other teams doing the same thing when it stands to have negative consequences for the Thunder.

The biggest factor in all of this other than the team's success – no one hates on feckless teams except their own fans – is the aggressive, physical and borderline dirty style with which the Thunder play defense. The main character of this style is Luguentz Dort, and Friday's hyped OKC-Denver game gave us a perfect window into it.

Dort has flirted with the edge of dirty play in the past. Pulling it on three-time MVP Nikola Jokic – who himself has a history of rough play and more importantly taking great exception to rough play – ensured maximum exposure and intensification of the issue.

Playing dirty with Jokic is a brave decision. Markieff Morris missed 58 games with whiplash after Jokic shoved him in response to an unnecessarily hard foul! This is why anyone calling Jokic "usually mild-mannered" in response to see this visage beamed all over creation ...

... is not quite being honest. Jokic can get heated. Ask Morris. Ask Devin Booker. Hell, ask Devin Booker's boss Mat Ishbia! So this is a brave move by Dort, and a brave defense by Jaylin Williams.

It's also a dirty play by Dort. No one can watch that and credibly argue otherwise. And again, Dort has a history of playing with the line between tough and dirty, just like Dillon Brooks, the Morris twins, Bruce Bowen (whose line was more between dirty and really dirty) and plenty of other NBA ruffians. This one sent it over the line, no questions asked. This will be Example 1A in the Lu Dort Is Dirty conversation.

But having even straight-up dirty players (or one, in this case) doesn't make a villain. It just makes enemies. The Thunder have enemies. The Nuggets will now consider the Thunder enemies, and the next time they meet (one week from Monday) will draw even more attention. The Spurs consider the Thunder to be enemies, from Victor Wembanyama's unrequited existential beef with Chet Holmgren to San Antonio's desire to punk the top dogs in the conference. The Timberwolves might consider the Thunder to be enemies given how Anthony Edwards and Chris Finch have talked about SGA. You might see the Rockets get to that level given Kevin Durant's history in OKC and general hater-centric disposition these days. (This is a minor spoiler alert for the Scores section of today's newsletter.) The Jazz, or at least their fans, may consider the Thunder enemies now.

Being rough, being tough, being a little dirty isn't itself a fast-track to villainy or to making enemies. The Pistons are building a reputation that harkens back to their greatest squads, and certainly the Hornets and Knicks are displeased with how Detroit plays. But it takes a little bit more than that, and OKC has plenty for these foes to dislike.

It does make for more interesting basketball, all these side plots and frayed nerves. So, uh, here's to Lu Dort and his decision to trip the three-time MVP (and complain about the call immediately).

Scores

Friday

Cavaliers 119, Pistons 122 (OT) – YIKES! Good, close potential playoff preview (these teams are currently Nos. 1 and 4 in the East and will likely remain there). Cleveland up three with 6.5 seconds to go after Evan Mobley splits a pair from the line. No timeouts for Detroit, who needs to go the length of the floor. Kenny Atkinson calls for the foul up three. Daniss Jenkins knows it's coming. And he gets the shot up as Jalen Tyson grabs him. And he hits all three free throws to send it to overtime.