By DARNELL MAYBERRY, The Oklahoman

If you walked inside the Oklahoma City Thunder's locker room a year ago, you would have found a loose group, guys who didn't care much about how the stakes were growing higher as the season wound to a close.

Today, it's a similar aura, yet it's extremely different.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Layne Murdoch sat camped under the basket, on the cusp of capturing a potentially picture-perfect portrait. He steadied his lens as the three-on-two fast break crept closer to him. He held his position even when the action became too close for comfort.

The questions have disappeared.

You remember them.

Kevin Durant does, too.

The Oklahoma City Thunder's star couldn't escape them in his first three years as a budding star.

Coach Phil Jackson's opinion of officials' treatment toward Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant this season might fall on deaf ears with whatever referee crews are assigned to the first-round matchup between his Los Angeles Lakers and the Thunder.

But the Jackson's comments certainly drew the ire of the Thunder's franchise player.

Kevin Durant's face turned hard and his eyes welled up. He gazed straight ahead as he reflected on the man he affectionately referred to as "Big Chucky."

CHICAGO - There was a time not long ago when the Chicago Bulls were the Eastern Conference version of the Oklahoma City Thunder, the up-and-coming franchise filled with young talent and a fruitful future.

OKLAHOMA CITY - The dispute between Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks and star Kevin Durant started in Denver, on a cold Monday night with the media before Oklahoma City faced the Nuggets this week. The point of contention: Durant's defense.

"I don't know if he could have guarded me his first year," quipped Brooks, the 44-year-old coach.

Two of the candidates for this year's Most Improved Player Award strutted their stuff on Sunday night, but neither Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant nor Indiana's Danny Granger will take home the hardware.
New Jersey point guard Devin Harris has all but accepted the trophy.

It's the National Basketball Association's great debate.
Kobe Bryant or LeBron James?
"It's like six in one, a half dozen in the other," said Oklahoma City Thunder forward Malik Rose. "What do you like?"
Ask 10 basketball buffs which player is the game's best, and the results could come in split down the middle.

The lead attorney for the city of Seattle and several Seattle politicians are now willing to negotiate a settlement in the lease dispute with the Sonics ownership group if those talks include the promise of a replacement franchise by the NBA.