#15
REGGIE JACKSON
Not every day in the NBA is going to go perfectly. It’s the reaction to those difficult times that makes a winner. Over the course of his first two NBA seasons, Reggie Jackson has played every role imaginable – from third string point guard to playing for the Tulsa 66ers to filling the backup point guard role and eventually into the starting spot during the 2013 Playoffs.
Throughout it all, Jackson has maintained his courage, mental strength and poise with the help of his teammates and coaches.
“It’s about staying confident regardless of the outcome or what I’ve done or what mistakes I’ve made,” Jackson said.
A gym rat, Jackson has helped elevate the standards for work ethic for young players in the Thunder’s organization by his diligence during this past offseason. By pushing himself to his limits, Jackson is ready for any role that he is given. The determination of how the team will look starts in training camp, where Jackson’s focus and effort has carried over from the summer.
“There have been some battles and some fun times,” Jackson said. “We’re bonding, getting to know guys, all learning from each other... We’ve all been striving to push each other to their limits and beyond, and hopefully that helps us overall as a team.”
As the Thunder moves forward in training camp, roles and rotations will begin to become clearer and come into focus. Jackson figures to be a factor for the Thunder and is someone the team will count on to play his aggressive style on both ends of the floor. The key for the team as a whole, however, will be how all of the pieces fit together. Through practices and workouts, the Thunder will build chemistry and camaraderie with one another, helping shake out which combinations of players go best with one another.
“We’re all trying to kind of build off old relationships with each other and just try to figure out what works for us and how we need to get it done collectively,” Jackson said. “We’re just trying to get better and just figure out what we’re going to do, what our needs going to be and how we’ll play.”
Even with all engines geared towards getting better in time for the regular season, the Thunder still finds time to make Oklahoma City citizens feel special.
After the organization’s immediate response to the tornadoes that hit Moore and the surrounding community, the Thunder pledged to continue giving back to those who were affected. On Sunday, the team will head to Moore to find yet another way to follow through on that promise by hosting its annual Blue and White Scrimmage at Westmoore High School. Along with the Thunder Girls, Rumble, Storm Chasers and Thunder Drummers, the organization will provide the Thunder game experience to those in attendance.
Throughout the summer, Thunder players and staff continually visited Moore and other affected areas like Carney and El Reno to meet with first responders and families, help with clean up and rebuilding projects and make students feel excited to return to school. While Sunday’s event is not open to the public, Moore residents including families, school faculty and first responders will be in attendance as the Thunder continues tuning up and ironing out wrinkles in advance of the regular season.
With just under three weeks remaining until the regular season begins on Oct. 30th, the Thunder is utilizing every opportunity on the court to improve individually and collectively. From a competitive standpoint, Thunder players relish every opportunity to go against one another on the court to battle for playing time and to push one another to get better. As a result, Sunday’s scrimmage will be a perfect time for Thunder fans in attendance to get a glimpse of the team as it gets its bodies and mind in peak position for the season.
A home preseason game against the Denver Nuggets is lined up on Oct. 15th, so Sunday’s scrimmage will be a dress rehearsal for the Thunder’s first action of the 2013-14 season in front of a Chesapeake Energy Arena crowd.
Thunder Alley opens up outside the arena at 1:00 p.m. and the game begins at 3:00 p.m. During the pregame festivities, the Thunder will announce a gift from the Thunder Cares Foundation to benefit the Moore community.