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Forbes
04-07-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
OKC Thunder 2025 Summer League Roster And Full Two-Event Schedule Finalized
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 28: Ajay Mitchell #25 of the Oklahoma City Thunder brings the ... More ball up court during the first half of the game against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center on December 28, 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) While the Oklahoma City Thunder recently won an NBA Championship and already have 15 players accounted for on next season's roster, NBA Summer League is still an important milestone in the offseason. Over the next few weeks, the Thunder will play at least eight games across two cities in an effort to develop young talent and get a look at other interesting prospects across the league. Oklahoma City will participate in both the Salt Lake City and Las Vegas circuits, which means plenty of action in the coming days. It all begins on Saturday, andthen will continue for multiple weeks. Here's everything you need to know about the Thunder's upcoming NBA Summer League action. Oklahoma City officially unveiled its roster for NBA Summer League on Friday afternoon, which gives insight into what to expect over the next few weeks. It's largely an inexperienced group of players, primarily built with rookies with zero NBA experience and five players with just one season under their belt. As such, Ajay Mitchell, Alex Ducas, Brandon Carlson, Malevy Leons and Jazian Gortman will be the veterans on this team, despite having minimal experience. Here's the Thunder's official roster for NBA Summer League: Thunder NBA Summer League Roster Nikola Topic is undoubtedly the most interesting player on this roster. Viewed as a potential top-five pick 18 months ago leading into the 2024 NBA Draft, he dealt with a knee injury and ultimately slipped to the Thunder at No. 12 before undergoing surgery and missing all of last season. NBA Summer League will be his first time playing game action in an Oklahoma City uniform. Alongside him in the backcourt will be Ajay Mitchell, who carved out a spot in the Thunder's rotation last season as a rookie and will likely be the best player on the roster this summer. From there, Brandon Carlson and Alex Ducas are among the notable players on the roster, as both were on a two-way contract in Oklahoma City last season and will be looking to prove their worth another. Furthermore, Viktor Lakhin is a legitimate NBA talent, but he recently suffered a foot injury and won't be able to compete. Similarly, it's important to note that Thomas Sorber and Payton Sandfort are on the roster, but not expected to play. Sorber is still recovering from a season-ending foot injury, while Sandfort is also rehabbing a dual shoulder issue. Both are among the most promising on this list of players, but won't be on the floor this summer in game action. Once again, the Thunder will compete in a smaller NBA Summer League in Salt Lake City to kick off its long stretch of action in July. Only four teams compete in this event, which has become a tradition for each of these franchises every summer. From there, the Thunder heads to Las Vegas for at least five more games right after wrapping up in Utah. The Las Vegas event is the bigger of the two that OKC participates in, as all 30 NBA teams compete in that one. As outlined by the NBA, after each team's first four games, the top four teams will advance to participate in the playoffs. The four playoff teams and their seeds for playoff games will be determined by winning percentage in each team's first four games, with tiebreaker criteria available here. The 26 teams that do not advance to the four-team playoff will play a fifth game to round out their summer. NBA Summer League is important for not just the players on every team, but also for the teams themselves. This is one of the best forums to evaluate young talent to win on the margins. Especially for the Thunder, filling out the two-way contracts with real contributors who could have the chance to make their way to the 15-man roster at some point is a huge advantage when it comes to roster building.
Forbes
23-06-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
Amazon Prime Ends Its NASCAR Experiment With Plenty To Brag About
CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA - MAY 25: A detail view of a "NASCAR Prime" helmet on the on the Amazon ... More Prime Video set prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 25, 2025 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) Not long ago, if you'd told someone from the older generation that one day NASCAR races would be watched on the internet—without a single cable or satellite dish in sight—they'd have laughed, then asked what channel the internet was on. We're talking about a generation that grew up fiddling with rabbit ears on top of a black-and-white television just to catch a fuzzy glimpse of the Daytona 500—and still expects the morning newspaper to land with a satisfying thump on the driveway at sunrise. And yet, here we are. The Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway marked the start of something new: the first time a full NASCAR Cup Series race was streamed exclusively. No traditional broadcast. No cable. Just you, your internet connection, and a new era. Some skeptics braced for buffering, crashes, or missing the green flag while the app updated. But what actually happened was something else entirely: it worked. It turned out to be one of the most innovative, polished, and downright thrilling broadcasts NASCAR fans have seen in years. This wasn't a cautious toe-dip into the digital future. This was a cannonball off the high board—and in the end, Amazon and NASCAR stuck the landing. BROOKLYN, MICHIGAN - JUNE 08: (L-R) The NASCAR on Prime Video broadcast team Danielle Trotta, Carl ... More Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Corey LaJoie talk on set prior to the NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 08, 2025 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by) From the on-screen Burn Bar that showed fuel consumption in real time to pre-race packages that felt like NFL Films had invaded the infield, Amazon Prime's production team didn't just bring NASCAR into the streaming era—they took it to school. The camera work was sharp. The graphics were clean without being intrusive. The audio mix made it feel like you were in the pits with a headset on. And the pre- and post-race segments? Let's just say, if you're one of the traditional networks, you should be looking over your shoulder. A new bar has been set. So what gave Amazon—and NASCAR—the confidence to believe streaming would finally land with this audience? "To me, it's less about streaming than people might think," said Alex Strand, Senior Coordinating Producer at Prime Video, who was at the center of it all. "In the end, our goal is fan first. Whether that's Thursday Night Football, National Women's Soccer League, or NASCAR, we're really fan first.' Strand and his team didn't recycle an old playbook. They came at this with a blank slate—though not without lessons learned from Prime's Thursday Night Football broadcasts. Finding their identity was key. 'One big thing has been our postgame show. For TNF, Nightcap gave us a platform to go deep and be the first voice people hear," Strand said. "For NASCAR… you could really talk for three hours. You've got 36 teams and 36 storylines. It's one of the unique challenges—but the approach still fits." That approach resulted in pre- and post-race coverage that felt less like a broadcast and more like an immersive experience. Fans got emotion, analysis, and context without being rushed off the air. Part of that came from the chemistry between Corey LaJoie and Carl Edwards—the fan-favorite driver who returned to the sport and slipped into his new role with the same ease, and talent, he once showed climbing into a race car. Add in visual tools like the now-famous Burn Bar—which showed live fuel consumption data in a simple, intuitive graphic—and suddenly you're not just watching a race, you're understanding it in real time. LEBANON, TENNESSEE - JUNE 01: A general view of the NASCAR on Prime Video broadcast set after the ... More NASCAR Cup Series Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on June 01, 2025 in Lebanon, Tennessee. (Photo by) "We have the general belief at Amazon that fans can tolerate more data," Strand said. "Take things that are really advanced and present them in really simple ways. It's the same with our 'defensive alerts' in football—a little red circle might mean something different to a casual fan than it does to a strategist, but it works either way." The Burn Bar was developed in-house, using the same real-time NASCAR telemetry available to other networks. But the model powering it? Proprietary Amazon tech, with a little help from Amazon Web Services. So what was the mood the night before this high-speed baptism—Amazon's first green flag at Charlotte, no cable safety net, millions watching, and just enough time to wonder if they'd accidentally left the lens cap on while hoping the Burn Bar wouldn't spontaneously combust? "Excitement," Strand said. "Everybody in the crew was pumped…We'd been talking about this for 18 months. We knew the responsibility, and there was a lot of thought that went into how we got on air for the first time. But in Charlotte? The prevailing feeling was excitement." That excitement was contagious. Viewers and even industry insiders praised the coverage. And while traditional Nielsen ratings aren't the currency of streaming, Amazon saw exactly what NASCAR hoped for: a younger demographic tuning in. "Our belief is that by creating a great show, telling the story of a race or an NFL game... if we do that right, fans will come," Strand said. "We saw it in the UK with the Premier League. We've seen it with the NFL. Have fun while you're doing it, and the viewership will come. 'Certainly, a younger demographic is an exciting thing—but it's not our only goal. Our goal is to serve the entire fan base." The numbers, while not record-breaking, were right where Prime expected them to be for a first-year foray into a new platform—solid enough to build on, especially with younger audiences. "It's been really cool and encouraging to see these numbers come in in year one," Strand said. "It's something we're really happy about." DAYTONA BEACH - FEBRUARY 18: A cameraman holding a CBS camera at the Daytona 500 racing event, on ... More February 18, 1979, at Daytona Beach, FL. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images) And for those fans who still miss the newspaper and swear their DVR is smarter than they are, Prime made the transition surprisingly seamless. Free trial offers, user-friendly interfaces, and a commitment to continuous improvement have made streaming feel less like a chore and more like an upgrade. "Our goal is always to make sports streaming as accessible as possible," Strand said. "At Amazon, we have a saying: it's always Day One. That means we keep looking for ways to do it better." As the five-race run concluded at Pocono, the energy didn't wane. "You spend a whole season on a tour, it becomes work. But with this five-race stretch? It's been pure joy," Strand said. "Everyone shows up smiling. Carl Edwards and Corey LaJoie are genuinely excited to be watching races together.' Amazon isn't talking specifics about its future NASCAR involvement beyond the current deal just yet, but Strand confirmed that the debrief and development process will begin immediately. "Every week we've made changes and improved," he said. "That process begins right away for whatever comes next. We'll continue to watch the rest of the season just like we always have, and keep thinking about how we can make our coverage as good as it can be." So now what? The grand streaming experiment is over—for this season. NASCAR heads into the heat of summer and the heart of the championship push. Amazon hands off the baton, but it's clear that fans—and other broadcasters—have taken notice. Strand knows exactly what he wants fans to do: "Keep coming. We want people to be consuming the Cup Series year-round… If we've gained any new viewers, we hope they stick around. The more people around, the better it is for the sport.' And if that means Grandpa learns how to use a Fire Stick? Even better.
