Nick Gallo | Broadcast Reporter and Digital Editor | okcthunder.com
It took 32-year-old Scotty Hopson all of 10 seconds in his Thunder debut to do something he hadn’t done in a decade as a professional basketball player – make a basket in the NBA.
At the 11:50 mark of the second quarter against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night, Hopson rose up for a 19-footer – a midrange jumper that is staple of his game. Playing within his comfort zone, the same niche that he’s nestled into with the G League’s OKC Blue, Hopson hit another jumper, grabbed a rebound and dished an assist in an 18-minute stint, the longest action he’d ever seen at the NBA level.
Hopson was one of four OKC Blue players to see minutes for the Thunder on its Western Conference back-to-back against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday and then the Suns 24 hours later. The Thunder also called up Olivier Sarr, Jaylen Hoard and Rob Edwards on hardship exception deals to compensate for being without six rotation players on both nights, with all of those missing except one out for health and safety protocols.
“I'm really excited and really happy to be here,” said Sarr. “I'm thankful for the opportunity that the Thunder gave me, and I'm just here to contribute.”
As the Thunder learned that players were ruled out on Monday and Tuesday, plans were set in motion to get Edwards, Hopson and Sarr on the road trip. All three hopped on the flight from Oklahoma City to Sacramento, checking in with the familiar faces of teammates and staff as they dropped off their bags and found their seats on the charter. On Wednesday morning, Hoard was up at 4 a.m. to catch a flight to Phoenix where he met the team and rolled right into game preparation on the second night of the Thunder’s back-to-back.
Edwards and Hoard played the final two minutes of Wednesday night’s battle with the Suns, one in which the young Thunder had the defending Western Conference champions’ full attention. Despite dropping both games on the road trip, the Thunder was in each one, and was able to rely on the professionalism of its players – long tenured veterans and OKC Blue newcomers alike.
Sarr joined Edwards and Hoard in those final moments as well, but he also played a big role in Tuesday night’s clash with the Kings. In 12 minutes in Sacramento, Sarr scored four points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked two shots, serving in the same capacity that he has for the Blue this season. He’s a quick and fluid roller with leaping ability, who at 7-feet tall can thrive as a diver to the rim through the middle of the lane or at the dunker spot. On defense, he hung back near the hoop to stand up would-be Sacramento layups and turn them into errant shots, swatted or otherwise deterred. In drop coverage and the bucket, he performed a standard duty of a reserve NBA big man.
There’s a synergy between the Thunder and Blue, not just because their practice facilities are only 10 minutes away or because both teams are playing in Paycom Center this year. It’s the human beings that keep the two groups connected – the trainers, the coaches and the players who frequently attend Blue games to cheer courtside. It’s Blue Head Coach Grant Gibbs staying in constant contact with the Thunder coaching staff and front office, and upholding the organization’s values no matter who is on the roster. It’s the cadence of players’ days, routines set in place and consistency of on-court terminology and actions that allow a 22-year-old like Sarr to step in and play his first NBA game without missing a beat.
“I really want to tip my hat off to Coach Grant Gibbs for preparing our guys and making them ready for this situation,” said Thunder assistant coach Mike Wilks, who served as the Thunder’s head coach on the road trip in place of Mark Daigneault, who was also out with health and safety protocols. “It was it was a pretty smooth transition.”
“I never thought I’d be here this quick,” Sarr said of his NBA call-up. “I watch a lot of games. The good thing is with the Blue we play a similar game, so it was easy to blend in.”
No team has made more G-League assignments than the Thunder has this season with 29, so when the quartet of Blue players joined the road trip this week, they were jumping onto a roster where they had already played with 8 of the 17 guys this season in a game and with others in practice. In addition, Hoard, Sarr and Thunder guard Théo Maledon all played together in high school in Paris at INSEP before carving their separate routes to their reunion in Oklahoma City.
“It was pretty easy,” added Hoard, who was on a two-way contract with the Thunder for part of last season. “I know the whole coaching staff, medical staff, everybody, pretty much every teammate. It's been an easy adjustment.”
On top of the Blue action and the French connection, veteran Thunder center Mike Muscala said he’d already played pickup with Hopson, the journeyman whose winding path has led him to traverse the world yet seemingly always return to OKC.
After going undrafted in 2011 out of the University of Tennessee, Hopson played in Greece, Israel and Turkey before finally signing his first NBA contract, with the Cleveland Cavaliers, at age 24 in March of 2014. He played in two games for a total of just 7 minutes and hit a free throw but missed all of his field goal attempts. Four months later, he was involved in a whirlwind of transaction activity – getting traded three times in a four-day span, then a fourth time in September. Four years passed before he made it onto an NBA roster again.
Hopson then took his game overseas, braving out his professional journey in China and Croatia and then Israel and Turkey once again. Finally, in February of 2018, he signed a 10-day deal with the Dallas Mavericks, appearing in one game for eight minutes and again, hitting one free throw but missing his only shot attempt.
Since the summer of 2018, Hopson has found a seasonal home in Oklahoma City, playing with the Blue in 2018-19, again in 2020 and then this season. He’s weaved some international action in between, including playing last season with the NBL’s Melbourne United, where he won a championship. However, something has continued to pull Hopson back to the Blue, and that connection materialized on Wednesday into a moment he’ll never forget, as the Thunder bench erupted in celebration when Hopson’s first shot dropped.
“It was sweet,” said Hopson. “I feel like I belong here. I'm here to fulfill a need and be the best that I can be on and off the basketball floor. Oklahoma City's been great to me ever since I came here in 2018. They’ve done a great job in my development on and off the floor as a player and as a professional. I owe them a lot, so I'm glad that they were able to give me an opportunity and I'm going to do my best to make the best of it.”