Kevin Durant vs. Sam Bradford: Who’s bigger?
Big news day for The Oklahoman sports page today. We had the Kevin Durant contract. We had Sam Bradford with a Norman appearance, talking about his NFL career. We had the climax of our Super 30 recruiting list, profiling No. 1 Josh Turner, who has committed to, gulp, Texas.
Durant got the big splash, which he should have. But it raises a really good question. Who’s bigger in Oklahoma right now? Durant or Bradford?
Sam Bradford is in town to help with a "Beat the Heat" campaign on Wednesday, July 7, 2010, in Norman, Okla. Photo by Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman
The answer will shock some of you, but it’s Durant. And the reason is relatively new.
For 60 years — heck, more than that, counting baseball — our stars from Oklahoma high schools and universities have mostly taken their talents and gone elsewhere. Pepper Martin to Sportsman’s Park, Paul and Loyd Waner to Forbes Field, Mickey Mantle and Allie Reynolds to Yankee Stadium, Johnny Bench to Riverfront Stadium.
Alvan Adams to Phoenix, Wayman Tisdale to Sacramento and Indianapolis, Mark Price to Cleveland.
Tommy McDonald to Franklin Field,Steve Owens to Tiger Stadium, Barry Sanders to the Silverdome, Lee Roy Selmon to Tampa Stadium, Troy Aikman to Texas Stadium, Adrian Peterson to the Metrodome.
But Durant is not going. He’s coming. This is a guy who is going global while calling the Ford Center home. Durant is an NBA superstar here in the 405. He’s an import, not an export, and on the athletic side, imports trump exports.
Bradford was one of the most popular Sooners of all time. I wouldn’t argue with anyone who says Sammy B. is No. 1 on the list. A local kid. A great story. A Heisman Trophy. Good raisin’. Everything you want.
But now Bradford is headed to St. Louis, where he will be another region’s hero. Hard to care about the Rams. Easy to care about the Thunder.
Durant has come to symbolize Oklahoma City. He is rapidly becoming the face of OKC. Perhaps not Oklahoma, where football still reigns supreme, but most definitely in Oklahoma City. And that status will only grow Durant gets bigger and the Thunder gets better.
Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant watches the team warm up prior to an NBA summer league basketball game against the Philadelphia 76ers in Orlando, Fla., Wednesday, July 7, 2010. Durant agreed to a five-year contract extension with the team Wednesday, according to an update on his Twitter page. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
This all reminds me of The Wonder Years, the late great ABC sitcom. You remember. Kevin Arnold was a kid growing up in Somewhere, America, in the late ’60s/early ’70s, and his grown-up persona narrated the stories. Easily one of the five best television shows ever.
Anyway, the series finale of The Wonder Years dealt with the lovestruck couple, Kevin and Winnie Cooper. The final episode dealt with the summer going into their senior year, and at the end, Grown-Up Kevin told the story of what happened to everyone. To his family and his friends and himself and the girl he would always love.
Winnie Cooper went off to Paris to study design and didn’t come back for good for something like 10 years. And when she did return, Kevin was there to greet her.
With his wife and kids.
Sam Bradford is Oklahoma’s Winnie Cooper. Yesterday’s girlfriend.
But Kevin Durant is Oklahoma’s wife and kids.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
The NBA hype might seem artificially created but it is still number 2 to the Sooners. The paper does not try to make the NBA bigger, they put the NBA where it needs to be and that is as the number two thing in the state.
KD is the bigger star right now PERIOD! KD has been in the NBA4 years now he is consistently rated as a top 5 NBA player he took his team to the playoffs before anyone ever expected this team. KD also brings the state together all corners of Oklahoma get behind KD and the Thunder. I like Bradford but he is a rookie who ,as of now, isn’t even the starter on one of the worst teams in the NFL. Bradford hasn’t thrown a TD in the NFL he has no stats he hasn’t done anything yet professionally. No contest KD is the bigger star!
Wow OU-Houston, while i love the sooners and am looking forward to the upcoming football season, the Thunder have become incredibly popular and I find myself following them more and more. Where you at the Ford Center for the playoff series against the Lakers? Hard to believe that was a fake atmosphere. Did you see the standing ovation after the team lost on a last second shot in game six? I’m sorry you hate the thunder or seem to think that theres not enough room for all the teams in Oklahoma. But you comments are way off and in know way represent the way OKC views the thunder.
Wow. Sooners are a jealous bunch. OU was the biggest sport amongst college sports fans in Oklahoma. Which was just a fraction of the state, while the majority of Oklahomans just didn’t give a shoot. Now that we have a team and KD competing locally at the highest level the sooners are up in arms…..”OU is #1!!”
Who cares. OU football benefited from the media hype and media “cramming it down our throats” for 80 freakin years! Now there is another fish in the pond.
This article could have as easily been written about OU being the old girlfriend instead of Sam Bradford.
I think Durant’s bigger just because the Thunder are on the rise and there’s no divide as there is between the state colleges. But Jason, you’re wrong if you think the Sooner fanbase is just a “fraction of the state” and that the majority of Oklahomans “don’t give a hoot.” The majority of Oklahomans are Sooner fans and Sooner football will probably always be the biggest draw in the state.
That being said, more Oklahomans are relinquishing their former NBA affiliations and latching onto a Thunder train that’s barreling toward greatness. OU is huge, and the Thunder are getting huge. There’s nothing wrong with both of those things happening.
KD may be the biggest star in oklahoma as far a person in the flesh but one thing remains certain we will always have the sooners and cowboys. i partook in both playoff games and i go to several regular season games per year but. if i had to chose it would be the sooners any day. foot ball and the sooners is and will always remain supreme in the state of oklahoma. and as for the wonder years i grew up on that show love it and loved the intro song even more, when i see the re runs on tv it always makes me think of everything god as a child and the growing pains that we all go through. great comparison!
Well, I love both! However, that Texans comments about lack of NBA fever/fervor previously are just wrong. I been a fan since I was 11 and had to stay up until 2:00am to watch Wilt Chamberlain vs. Willis Reed do war in a playoff final. There were a few of us. Also, we have shown basketball fever over the years since; with many great OU teams, the Hornets visiting for a couple of years, and now our beloved Thunder. Imagine if we had Blake Griffin playing here.
Most Oklahomans never cared about the NBA before because we never had a team to call our own. There is plenty of room in the state for both college football and professional basketball.
GO THUNDER!
People care about Sooner football so much because they grew up with it. Imagine what the Thunder can do in the next 20 years!
Really?!?!?! This is the dumbest poll ever. KD is one of the top 5 players in the NBA. Sam Bradford hasn’t played a down in the NFL. You think the Dallas Morning news is running a pole right now, who is bigger Colt McCoy or Dirk Nowitzki. Give me a break.
Hey Texan, so are Mavericks, Spurs, and Rockets fans insincere if they also deeply appreciate the Cowboys, Texans, and even the dreaded Longhorns?
KD is BIGGER… wait till SB got his team to playoffs or win MVP then he maybe bigger
But for now, KD is nba scoring champions and has brought OKC Thunder to playoffs. So at this point of time he’s bigger
Love how people made this into an OU/NBA debate. The question isn’t about OUor the NBA it was who is bigger KD or SB?
This poll is for people who dont know anything about sports come back in 5 years and ask this question oh it will be still a dumb question O-who last i checked Sam play for the Rams let him get though the first season
why does things always have to be black and white i dont remember this question being asked when Blake Griffin went to the NBA first round draft pick to ask this question it must be a slow day in sports or Berry cant think of anything positive to write about Oklahoma has Blake Griffin, KD, and Sam Bradford i think Oklahoma City wins not one person get a life
As a college football fan who couldn’t care less about the Sooners (and there are a lot of us) and have jumped on the Thunder bandwagon since day one (actually before that considering the Hornets) there is no doubt what my take is. We are very lucky to have KD playing in our state…
Also…LOVED The Wonder Years…best show ever.
Oklahoma loves & surports a winner just as any State does typpplical chararistic of people. they do not surport losers ask John Blake.
It is hard to count Durant as a Longhorn since he was on campus all of eight months. And did he finish his spring classes in that eigth month? The one and out basketball stars in college make it a joke when they are on campus. It is no different than hiring a high school player to play on a little league team. He does appear to be a great guy and a good citizen.
I think this is a close call; however, Sam Bradford has a hot dog named after him at our Bricktown Hot Dog Carts. When KD tells us what toppings he likes on his Nathan’s Famous All Beef Hot Dog, it will be a very close tie and may need to be determined with a hot dog eating contest 
This is such a non-story! Why does there even need to be discussion about who is the bigger star? I think Sam Bradford is a wonderful example of a native Oklahoman doing well; and Kevin Durant is a great example of an adopted Oklahoman doing well. I guess it’s a slow sports day in Oklahoma City…
I thought Shot-Gun-Sam would win this hands down. Local boy,
home-town favorite. Fresh off a media blitz by the DOK. Maybe
proving you’re at star at the next level vs. being told and
hyped as a star at the next level, still has some merit. Hmm.
Durant. Easy question. First, he’s a Texas boy where everything is bigger. Second, Bradford hasn’t done anything except had one good season at the college level.
Let’s all get back together in a couple of years and run the story again. Thanks for the memories Sam, thanks for the future Kevin… Go Thunder.
KD is much bigger.. i love Bradford, i really do, but this is KD, hands down.. both are class acts and represent the state so well.. but KD is ours for the next decade, and he is bringing a national and global spotlight to OK and a legitmacy that we’ve never had.. he and the Thunder are changing the culture of OKC.. on a national scale, this isn’t even close, KD is so much bigger.. but even on a local scale, KD wins this.. fun article though..
also, love the The Wonder Years analogy.. funny you say it’s a top 5 show of all time easily, cause it is actually my #5 favorite ever, behind only The Sopranos, Lost, Dexter and Family Ties..
This is an interesting question, and I’d have to say they are tie at the moment. Obviously the NBA is fresh in our minds considering the free agency frenzy that is occurring. In addition, the Thunder making the playoffs and challenging the Lakers, with the added fact that KD won the scoring title, and its easy to put KD as the “bigger deal” in Oklahoma right now. However, it wasn’t long ago when the NBA didn’t seem to matter, as we had an enormous amout of NFL 1st round draft picks, with Sammy B leading the way. Sam’s injury hurt his status, because we really didn’t get to see him play much this past year, and yet he is still a big deal. If in November, the Rams are leading the NFC west and Sam is having a monster year, we might see the majority switch and say Sam is the bigger deal. Either way, as a lifelong Oklahoma resident, I’m glad that Oklahoma has finally arrived in the sports world. This is a great debate and problem to have and one I hope we continue to have for years to come.
Right this moment, Durant is the bigger story for one very simple reason. He is a proven commodity in his respective sport and nearly took his team to the NBA finals. I completely disagree with an earlier comment that it was due to the “local media” ramming anything down out throats. Sam may well take Kevin to task with his own future performances and I believe he has a great chance to do just that. But certainly a very interesting question and worthy of discussion. Good job Tram!
Your list of great Oklahoma athletes is impressive but you omitted Chelsea’s Ralph Terry. MVP of the ’62 World Series should qualify to at least be mentioned and you couldn’t find a finer role model.
who ever wrote this,,,and i will not even read the above comments,,,,,,sam is not even a pro,,,how do you stupid writers even chance to compare,,,,get a life,,,,,this is not your job from now on
KD. No question. The guy is a class act and an amazing player. OK couldn’t have asked for a better sports figure to represent the state.
Hook ‘Em KD!
Super Sam the Ram IS #1 – he will always be #1, Greatest Sooner, Heisman, #1 overall draft,and in the hearts of Oklahomans everywhere — after all– there is ONLY I SAM BRADFORD!!!!! Go Rams!
Berry – Bigger in Oklanhoma or Oklahoma City? You know there are more than 2 million of us who do not live in OKC. Depending on the geography used for the comparison, you will probably get a different answer.
Why don’t we take this approach? 2 young men who are among the best in their field. One homegrown and one adopted.
But what REALLY matters is that both appear to be even better people than they are athletes.
We shoud be thankful for both. What if we had to compare Ben Rothlisberger and one of the many NBA thugs?
This is sad to see how many Oklahomans still don’t support the Thunder. Maybe it’s just Sooner fans who never actually went to college and don’t understand. There are 30 NBA teams on the FACE OF THE EARTH and you get to call one of them your own. More importantly they play in honor of you.
The NBA and NCAA are not competitors. Wake up and support your team. If you don’t already, you definitely should now that one of the top 5 players in the NBA signed a contract 1 year early to make sure he gets to stay here and continue playing in honor of your city and state.
[...] Berry Tramel says Kevin Durant is bigger than Sam Bradford: “But Durant is not going. He’s coming. This is a guy who is going global while calling the Ford Center home. Durant is an NBA superstar here in the 405. He’s an import, not an export, and on the athletic side, imports trump exports. Bradford was one of the most popular Sooners of all time. I wouldn’t argue with anyone who says Sammy B. is No. 1 on the list. A local kid. A great story. A Heisman Trophy. Good raisin’. Everything you want. But now Bradford is headed to St. Louis, where he will be another region’s hero. Hard to care about the Rams. Easy to care about the Thunder. Durant has come to symbolize Oklahoma City. He is rapidly becoming the face of OKC. Perhaps not Oklahoma, where football still reigns supreme, but most definitely in Oklahoma City. And that status will only grow Durant gets bigger and the Thunder gets better.” [...]
Myers, KD isn’t from Texas. He’s from D.C. He spent 8 months going to school in Texas. And Sam had two good seasons in college, 07 and 08.
It’s okay, OU Houston has been under a rock these past five years, just to crawl out this morning & post here. The NBA is here, & KD no doubt overshadows Bradford. You’re talking about a guy who is one of the hardest workers in the NBA & a top 3 talent in the NBA, hence the youngest player to ever win a scoring title. Bradford hasn’t EVEN played in the Pros yet. People need to cool the jets on Bradford being larger. This is not a question of OU Football vs Thunder. Don’t twist it. We all know the roots of Oklahoman passion. But do not despise or hold any contempt to the great organization that Mr Bennett has brought to the 405, & to a larger extent, Oklahoma. That would be unwise.
Additionally, it is no one’s fault but their own to TUNE IN to what the media have to say. Irrelevant argument, can be easily short-circuited.
Tramel smokes some good stuff. And KD isn’t from Texas. He’s from Yankee land. Went to UT because he wasn’t smart enough to get into Georgetown.
I’m a Sooner alum and avid football fan. I really don’t care about basketball (wrestling is my winter sport), but I have to admit when the Thunder got into the playoffs I watched the games with great interest.
Let me provide a parallel between OKC and Phoenix. Tempe where ASU is located is a suburb of Phoenix, similar to Norman-OKC. When I moved to Phx in 1978 there were two hot athletic tickets in town – ASU Football – Frank Kush was still coaching, and ASU was a powerhouse. The other was the Phoenix Suns with Alvan Adams at center, and John MacLeod as head coach, both formerly at OU. Alvan Adams was perhaps the most popular athlete in the Phoenix metro area, with Danny White who had played at ASU, was the Dallas Cowboys quarterback. Those were the two most popular athletes in AZ (except in Tucson). White was already an established star in the NFL, which Bradford is not.
There is room for both the Sooners football and OKC Thunder basketball. Now if an NFL team was located here then OU football would have some competition. Of course the AZ Cardinals took about 20 years to be competitive, but it hurt ASU football big time.
My advice is appreciate both athletes who conduct themselves with dignity and grace on and off the field. Fortunately, neither Bradford or Durant was born with a million dollar body and a ten cent brain like some athletes I could name.
Thank goodness I’m glad that finally KD dethroned Normans golden boy who is like a bottle rocket. Exciting at first but after it all done you feel let down.
To you folks who have the wrong idea, I don’t hate the Thunder. I was just saying that it’s a known fact that when a professional sports team moves into a city, they immediately comandeer the local media to hype them. It’s part of the deal. Some of you gullible fans just don’t realize what’s going on. This happened with the Thunder and it happens everywhere. There was no NBA or Seattle Sonics tradition or fan following in Okla (no public DEMAND) but as soon as they set up shop in OKC the local media fall into line and begin the hype machine, regardless of the FAN MARKET DEMAND. The thing that saved the Thunder is that they actually became a quality team quickly. How popular would they be in Oklahoma if they stunk like the Clippers? I’d give them 5 years in that scenario. Oklahoma is a small state, with low population, and is a known “football state.”
The same thing happened in Houston when the Texans started up. They came into existence out of thin air, no history, no tradition whatsoever, yet as a person living in Houston I’m supposed to run out and purchase a decal for my car or something? They actually shut out coverage of the Cowboys even thought they are arguable the most followed NFL team in the country (and world).
I tune into the Sports Animal and all they ever talk about is NBA basketball now. I’m sorry but I want to hear about OU (or even OSU) football. But that’s just me I guess, right?
BTW, I grew up in Oklahoma, have 2 degrees from OU and while I live in Houston I will never be a “Texan”! Boomer Sooner!
To all those that prematurely discount Sam Bradfords ability, give them a year or two to build a team around
Sam. Then give Sam a chance. It’s nuts to be comparing BBall and Football players. It’s also allowing yourself to be steered in the direction that the media instigates. Think for yourself. Sam hasn’t played a down in the NFL yet, hasn’t even got a contract yet. Kevin has been around for awhile, he is very good for BBall and OK. They are not competing with one another, never will.
The only reason Durant and the Thunder are the big story in OKC is because the local media ram it down everyone’s throats. People in Oklahoma and OKC never cared about the NBA before the media started up the hype machine. The local media are in cahoots with the professional sports organizations. The Oklahoman, local TV networks, and the Sports Animal radio are just a wing of the NBA/Thunder publicity division. The fans who call in to sportstalk shows still want to hear about OU Football/OSU Football/college hoops. Everything else is artifically created. Here in Houston the local media are practically forbidden to talk about the Dallas Cowboys, they are practically forced to hype the Houston Texans even though the Cowboys are probably just as popular.