Talking Points: Thunder’s ball boy has a lot of …. well, moxie

1

Don’t mess with the Oklahoma City Thunder’s ball boy.

Russell Westbrook will miss the rest of the NBA playoffs after undergoing knee surgery on Saturday. Westbrook, the Thunder’s all-star point guard, suffered the injury when the Houston Rockets’ Patrick Beverley bumped him while attempting a steal during Game 2 of the Western Conference first-round playoff series.

Apparently, Mitchell Brown did not appreciate the play.

Per the Associated Press, police are investigating death threats directed at Beverley from a Twitter account belonging to Brown, the Thunder’s ball boy.

A tweet from the”Patrick Beverly, I’m coming to kill you.” A similar message was sent to Beverley’s Twitter account.

2

Proving that he harbors no ill will against former opponents, Chip Kelly selected a trio of Pac-12 picks this weekend during his first NFL draft as the Philadelphia Eagles head coach.

Kelly spent four years at the helm of Oregon football. And yet, Kelly had no issue in welcoming Stanford tight end Zach Ertz in the second round, USC quarterback Matt Barkley with the first pick in the fourth round and Oregon State cornerback Jordan Poyer in the seventh.

3

Just as Portland Winterhawks defenseman Seth Jones did not follow the footsteps into his father’s sport, Barry Larkin’s son, Shane, also appears to have blazed his own trail.

On Saturday, Yahoo! reported that Shane Larkin, a sophomore basketball player at Miami, will enter the NBA draft this summer. His Hall of Fame father played 19 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds.

Seth Jones, of course, is projected as the top pick in the NHL draft this June. His dad, Popeye, played 11 seasons in the NBA.