The Oklahoma City Thunder held their media day Monday and the hot topic of the day was Chris Paul’s plant based diet.
GM Sam Presti mentioned how in shape Paul is and it definitely shows. He looks a little slimmer and it’s because of his new diet. Paul isn’t the only one who has become more health conscious.
Almost every player mentioned how they changed their diet and guard Andre Robinson even mentioned how Paul helped him change his diet to plant based. One player who isn’t going to be going plant based however is Steven Adams, who says he’s sticking by beef but does say the science behind Paul’s diet is impressive.
Since everyone is slimming down, a lot of guys talked about how the team plans on running a lot during games. For a team like this years team with so many new key guys, it’s important to find a team identity as soon as possible. For the this year, that identity seems to be running and defense.
With great athletes like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Terrance Ferguson, and Hamidou Diallo to go along with great defenders like Paul, Adams, and Nerlens Noel the team shouldn’t have a problem making defense and running the identity.
Other than Paul’s diet, another topic of discussion was where the leadership will come from now that long time Thunder, Russell Westbrook, is no longer with the team.
With all the new additions and no Westbrook on this years team the easy answer to where the leadership will come from is Paul and Adams. While those two will most likely become the most vocal guys on the team, everyone echoed the same thing. Everyone will be a leader in their own right and it won’t just be one person.
Adams says
“The main thing is everyone is on the same page. You can accomplish that by everyone being a leader in their own way”
One of those leaders will surely be Paul but a guy that will be learning how to lead a team will be new Thunder Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He’s very excited to learn from Paul and calls him one of the greats.
How much time Paul and Gilgeous-Alexander play together remains to be seen but coach Billy Donovan says their will be times that those two and Dennis Schroeder will be on the court together.
This years team is very interesting. Like GM Sam Presti said at his press conference, they have an interesting mix of vets and young guys. They have made improvements on shooting which has been a problem the last few years and have a little more depth.
Losing Westbrook, Paul George, and Jerami Grant no doubt hurts but as the team stands right now, they won’t be an easy win for any team in the league.
Flip the page to see videos from media day.