Russell Westbrook saved the Thunder and made himself a hero

That’ll be the narrative all season after Westbrook signed an extension with the Thunder, even if the arrangement is still a short-term one.

Russell Westbrook took a sledgehammer to the rumor mill late Wednesday night by reportedly agreeing to an extension that will keep the All-NBA point guard in Oklahoma City through 2017-18. The renegotiated contract boosts Westbrook’s salary considerably this next season (a season for which Westbrook was already under contract) and locks in the following season as well, meaning the point guard’s likely new free agent date is July 1, 2018.

The obvious upshot is that the Thunder no longer have to worry about losing All-NBA talent for nothing in consecutive offseasons. There were compelling reasons for Westbrook to take this deal — not the least of which is that this setup is his most lucrative long-term path — but that doesn’t make it any less of a coup for Oklahoma City.

The fear of Westbrook leaving next July as Kevin Durant did this summer was so great that if the guard didn’t agree to this extension, OKC would likely have traded him to ensure there was a return on investment. Obviously, keeping Westbrook and guaranteeing that he can’t bolt in 2017 is a preferred outcome.

But what happens now? This is not the end of the story of Westbrook and the Thunder, just a twist in the narrative. Here’s what happens because of Westbrook’s decision.

1. The Thunder are buyers

OKC was able to offer a renegotiated 2016-17 salary for Westbrook only because the Thunder had cap space this summer. (Thanks, Kevin.) As we’ve discussed all year, the salary cap exploded, giving most teams a large amount of space to sign free agents. Along with the cap (now $94 million and projected to be $102 million next summer), the luxury tax threshold also rose. It sits at $113 million this year and should rise again in 2017.

Because the free agent market is picked over and due to salary-matching rules, it’s unlikely OKC will be able to fully leverage that payroll flexibility between now and next summer. That’s fine. Next July is where an extra year of Westbrook really pays off.

OKC didn’t have a real shot at chasing free agents in 2016. Durant decided on July 4. Most of the top options had found deals by then and Westbrook didn’t commit to stay another year until August. In 2017, Westbrook will already be locked in and the Thunder should have gobs of cap space (presuming they don’t hand out massive early extensions to Victor Oladipo, Steven Adams and Andre Roberson, which is possible but unlikely). The Thunder will be able to credibly chase top free agents.

(This all assumes there’s not a work stoppage.)

If they don’t land any big free agents? Well, Westbrook would still be a highly tradable asset.

2. The 10-year breakpoint becomes an even more prominent tool

A key reason Westbrook chose this route is because he wants to sign his next long-term deal once he has 10 years of service in the league. With 10 years under his belt, he can sign a deal starting at 35 percent of the cap in lieu of 30 percent. With a $100 million salary cap, that’s an additional $5 million in the first year and just under $45 million over a five-year deal (factoring in raises).

There’s a huge financial incentive to lock in once you are a 10-year veteran. It explains Durant’s 1+1 contract in Golden State (he will likely opt out in 2017 and sign a longer, more lucrative deal with the Warriors as a 10-year vet, barring contract rule changes in a new labor deal). It explains James Harden’s renegotiation and extension, which locks him in until 2019 ... when he’ll be a 10-year veteran.

Players and agents are smartly focusing in on that milestone. Teams are offering deals (like Westbrook’s contract in OKC) that play to that strategy. It’s something all analysts should pay attention to when reading tea leaves, and something the league is surely aware of as it looks for ways to increase star retention capacity for teams and boost parity.

3. We have a new babyface to battle Durant’s heel

We all know Westbrook’s decision comes with huge financial incentives, and we all know it’s really just one extra year of commitment. That’s hardly a lifetime tether.

For the broader audience — and arguably for us, too — that doesn’t matter. What matters is that Russell Westbrook chose to commit to tiny, underdog Oklahoma City a month after Kevin Durant bolted for Silicon Valley.

Westbrook is obviously a hero in Oklahoma now, but this will spread beyond: He’s going to be the nation’s favorite sports babyface for the next year or two. He already checks a lot of the Wildly Popular Athlete boxes. He plays crazy hard, he’s essentially indestructible and he has a sharp competitive edge. Ignore for a moment that he’s awful with the media, that his fashion is insane and that he has intense handshake choreography. Those are niche topics compared to the broader, marquee narrative which is that when the going got tough, Russell Westbrook got tougher.

Durant didn’t need help becoming a national villain — he accomplished that by joining the 73-win Warriors. In fact, the Warriors’ own heel turn was nearly complete and Durant was the coup de grace for that whole collective. But by providing a stark contrast, Westbrook has deepened the Durant dislike we’ll see in full effect for the next year. And every little bit of anti-Durant sentiment has the effect of boosting the pro-Westbrook sentiment.

By doing the opposite of what Durant did, Westbrook has elevated his standing among the broad, non-obsessive NBA fandom. (Westbrook has long been a hero among the obsessed.) He’s being touted as an MVP favorite because his box scores are going to be insane. Instead, tout him as the presumptive 2016-17 MVP because America eats this stuff up. This is Derrick Rose in 2011. Watch it happen.

What’s amazing is that the power of the narrative will overcome the basic facts of the situation, which reveal that Westbrook is a surly shot-jacker from L.A. with expensive taste and tendencies toward being a difficult teammate. As an avowed Westbrook booster since forever, I couldn’t be more pleased to witness all that get shrouded by a narrative that says Westbrook is a loyal tough guy willing to sacrifice to bring a little city some big glory.

Whatever gets America fully on board with the Westbrook Experience works for me.

Will NBA spotlight boost SubPac’s full body wearable?

Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving showed off a full-body wearable at the NBA Finals press conference, hours before the final match against the Golden Gate Warriors. And it could give the wearable’s maker, SubPac, the marketplace’s championship crown.

The wearable in question provides “tactile sound” that allows you to feel music or sound throughout your entire body.

Irving didn’t mention if he is partnered with SubPac, only saying to press “you’ll be hearing about it soon.” It may be possible he was using the wearable during training, though for what purpose, we don’t know.

The SubPac that Irving wore is different to the product in the startup’s YouTube video, posted in late 2015. That may be what Irving was referring to when he hinted at news coming soon; a new version with enhancements and a new design.

If Irving is the poster boy for SubPac, we suspect the new version may have some sports-related functionality, like simulated force while shooting or dribbling in training.

SubPac currently aimed at music and VR

The current SubPac is marketed at music and virtual reality, both can utilize biometrics to provide a full body experience. SubPac also has a body wearable for people sitting down, the S2, which could be more useful for video gamers.

Some video game firms have delved into biometrics in the past, including Half Life and Portal developer Valve. In an interview with The Verge, Valve director Gabe Newell said:

“We think that, unlike motion input where we kind of struggled to come up with ideas, [there’s potential in] biometrics.We have lots of ideas.”

With the first Steam VR headset, the HTC Vive VR, launched earlier this year, we may see Valve’s first attempts at biometric feedback in game. Other developers are looking into the effects biometrics can have on gameplay, like changing a level depending on the player’s heart-rate.

Full body wearables that provide vibration could be valuable in other areas, including training simulations for firefighters, police officers, and soldiers. SubPac has not mentioned any of these areas as potential market, sticking with the music focus for its current wearables.

IMAGE: AP, PALO ALTO DAILY NEWS, JACK ARENT

BY ADARIO STRANGE1 HOUR AGO

The passion and fire of Steve Jobs is the gift that keeps on giving.

Unfortunately for Silicon Valley darlings the Golden State Warriors, the Apple founder's words served as fuel for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, according to a new report.

In an attempt to inspire his teammates, James played Steve Jobs' famous and often quoted 2005 Stanford University commencement address in the locker room, an ESPN report revealed on Tuesday.

Since Jobs' death, the speech has been shared numerous times by business leaders, inventors and startup entrepreneurs alike. But it may come as a surprise to some that the Cavs, seen by many as using brawn versus the Warriors' cerebral style of play, leaned on the words of one of tech's most iconic visionaries.

Interestingly, just weeks before James played the speech for his team, teammate Kevin Love, who suffered a great deal of criticism during the championship series, accessed Jobs' words on his own.

"Love had started reading about Jobs on his own a few weeks earlier," reads the report on the developments inside the team's locker room. "One phrase stuck with him: 'Stay hungry, stay foolish.' Love started writing it on his shoes as a way to remind himself to loosen up."

Those words not only helped Love, but the series MVP, James, deliver sports history.

Perhaps the most ironic part of the story is the fact that much of Silicon Valley has adopted the Warriors, led by "baby-faced assassin" Steph Curry, as its unofficial tech industry sports team. 

But in the end, it turns out the Warriors may have been a little too clever for their own good and could have used some of the legendary passion Jobs delivered in his epic speech.

Cavaliers' Kyrie Irving shows off new wearable tech before NBA Finals

During last year's NBA Finals, Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith introduced many fans to the hoverboard, a tech flourish that some criticized him for as a potential lack of focus on the game, which they ultimately lost.

On Saturday, a similar tech turn happened for the Cavaliers when guard Kyrie Irving showed up to the pre-game seven NBA Finals press conference sporting a mysterious piece of wearable technology.

When asked by a reporter what the black body harness was, Irving said, "It's a Subpac, you'll be hearing about it soon."

That's about all Irving explained, but by identifying the hand logo on his gear we managed to find out that the Subpac is a wearable "tactile sound" accessory that allows you to feel the sound of music or gaming noise effects. 

Given that Saturday was a practice day for most players, it's possible that Irving was wearing the device to help him get into the zone as he listens to music in preparation for Sunday's big game.

The model shown on the company's website is different from the version Irving wore today, but if you're interested you can buy that model for $279. It's not clear if Irving is an official endorser of the product or just a gadget lover, but it's worth noting that he also appeared to be wearing an Apple Watch during the press event.

Like Smith's hoverboard reveal last year, this isn't the Subpac's market debut. It's already been around for a while, getting its start as a Kickstarter in 2013. But by attaching it to a big name athlete there's now a chance that the device might begin to enter the mainstream. 

So if and when you see one of these things, you'll know it's not a futuristic back brace, it's just an immersive sound device. 

The curious case of the 30-year-old high school basketball star

Jonathan Nicola stood 6-foot-9, wore size 16 shoes and weighed just over 200 pounds. Those are massive measurements for anyone, let alone a teenager — and they helped make Nicola a star on the Catholic Central High School basketball team Windsor, Ontario. 

But the whole thing was apparently a big sham. Nicola really is that large, and he really is good at basketball. But Canadian authorities say he's actually a 30-year-old who's spent the past several months pretending to be a high schooler. 

Nicola was arrested this week by the Canada Border Services Agency for violating Canada's Immigration Refugee Protection Act, The Windsor Star reports. 

He'd previously told the paper he was an immigrant from South Sudan, who'd arrived in Windsor last November, just three days before he turned 17. 

The Star reports Nicola had been staying with Catholic Central coach Pete Cusumano through a program that provides home-stays for foreign students.

On Feb. 1, a video posted to YouTube touted Nicola's basketball skills. It identified him as an 11th grader. 

Since The Star's initial story broke, Nicola has also been identified as 29 and 31 years old. At this point, it seems, there are far more questions than answers. 

“There’s really not a whole lot to say,” Windsor-Essex Catholic District School spokesman Stephen Fields told the Star. “Because of the fact this is a matter that’s still outstanding before the federal authorities, obviously we can’t really comment on it. Beyond that there’s not a whole lot to say.”

There will be plenty more to say once it's figured out just what the heck happened up inWindsor. 

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