To my Oklahoma family; this piece comes straight from the heart. I hope you’ll take a moment to read it and feel what I felt. Thank you for allowing me to be a small part of it. I came to @okcthunder to play basketball. I left carrying 168 lives. When I was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, I was thinking about basketball, nothing more. I didn’t know that before I ever stepped on the court, this place would show me something that would stay with me far longer than any game. Like any player, my mind was on the game. A new team, a new city, a new opportunity. I expected the usual routine when I landed in Oklahoma City. Physicals, practices, meetings, and a jersey waiting in a locker. But before any of that, Sam Presti pulled me aside and told me there was somewhere we needed to go. He didn’t explain much, and I didn’t think to ask. I was focused on the next step in my career. What I didn’t understand was that, before I could represent the place I was about to play for, I needed to understand it. So instead of heading to the facility, he took me to the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. I walked in without knowing what I was about to see, and within minutes, everything slowed down. There are 168 chairs at the memorial, each one representing a life lost on April 19, 1995. They are arranged in quiet rows, each engraved with a name, each standing where a person once stood in that building. Then you notice something that is impossible to process the first time you see it. Some of the chairs are smaller. They belong to children. There is no speech that prepares you for that, no headline that captures it. You simply stand there, and the silence carries a kind of weight that is hard to describe but impossible to ignore. As you walk through the memorial, you pass between two gates marked 9:01 and 9:03. At first, they seem like simple numbers, but then you understand what they hold. One marks the last minute before the attack. The other marks the first minute after. And in between those two gates is 9:02, the moment when everything changed. That minute does not feel like history when you are standing there. It feels present. The reflecting pool stretches across what used to be a city street, its surface calm and still. When you look into it, you do not just see water. You see yourself standing in a place where unimaginable loss occurred, and for a moment, everything else in your life becomes quieter. Nearby stands the Survivor Tree, an American elm that was damaged in the blast but endured. It is not untouched. Its scars are part of what it represents. But it is still standing, and in that, it carries a kind of strength that does not need to be explained. We did not speak much while we were inside. It did not feel like a place for conversation. Some places ask for words. This one asks for reflection. When we stepped outside, Sam Presti looked me in the eye and said, “This is what this state has been through.” Then he said something I will never forget. “Every time you step on that court, you are not just playing in front of fans. You are playing for a state that carries this with it. Give them everything you have. They deserve that.” In that moment, basketball felt different. Not smaller, but clearer. Because what I had just seen was not only about what was lost. It was about what remained. A state that had experienced unimaginable pain and still chose to come together, to rebuild, and to move forward without losing its humanity. From that day on, every time I stepped on the court, I carried that with me. On the nights when I was tired, when I was hurt, when I was dealing with challenges that felt heavy in the moment, I would think about those chairs, about that minute, about the people behind those names. And I was reminded that what I was going through did not compare to what this state had endured. oklahoman.com/story/opinion/…

The Regional University System of Oklahoma and Oklahoma Legislature leaders today announced the formation of the bipartisan RUSO Caucus. Read more: bit.ly/4e7BauE

This week, House Republicans passed two measures by Speaker Kyle Hilbert to ensure taxpayer-funded benefits are reserved for people lawfully present in the U.S. The governor also signed legislation improving education on the dangers of fentanyl. #okleg facebook.com/share/v/1C9s52A…

Opinion: Aerospace is essential to Oklahoma's economic future | Opinion oklahoman.com/story/opinion/…

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving,

If education were only about test taking, schools would already be obsolete. With the internet in our pockets, every fact, formula, and answer is just a click away. We don’t need classrooms to compete with search engines. But education has never been about filling in blanks or bubbling the right letter. At its best, education is not just an academic pursuit—it is a human one. It is the art of cultivating wisdom, not just collecting knowledge. It is learning how to think, not simply what to know. Education is where students wrestle with ideas, not just memorize them. It is where they encounter mentors who see their strengths, draw out their talents, and ignite a vision of what’s possible. It is where they learn to collaborate, create, question, and communicate. It is about resilience when things go wrong, empathy when others struggle, and courage when the world demands more than easy answers.

🚨 Educators, youth leaders & community partners — you're invited! Join us for a special Collaboration Forum: Real Talk About Fake Pills Educator Training & How We Address Frequently Asked Fentanyl Questions 🗓️ Thursday, September 11, 2025 🕛 12–1pm PT / 3–4pm ET (Virtual) 🎓 Learn how to bring our Real Talk About Fake Pills program to your students with guest speaker Jessica Colvin, MSW, MPH, PPSC. 💬 Get equipped to answer tough questions like “Can fentanyl show up in weed?” with Song for Charlie Co-Founder Ed Ternan. 🧠 Walk away with ready-to-use tools, research-backed answers, and confidence to lead lifesaving conversations. 🎥 RSVP to attend live or get the recording: bit.ly/sept11-collab #FentanylAwareness #FakePillsRealTalk #YouthEducation #PreventionStartsWithYou #SongForCharlie

Would you consider endorsing Sammy's Law, HR 2657 (SammysLaw.org) which would require social media and gaming platforms with children as users to allow third party safety software integration? My son died from fentanyl poisoning via Snapchat is the namesake of the bill.

Body language never whispers. It SCREAMS.

Rain wanted to be a teacher. She died after taking a XANAX laced with FENTANYL. kfor.com/video/rains-law-wou… #okleg #OKLeg #RainsLaw @SenatorDWeaver @JohnsForHouse

If you had a teacher influence your life, give this a watch. @OETAOK March 20th 7:00 pm #okstate #oklaed

OETA will be airing Educating Oklahoma, March 20th at 7 p.m. If you had a teacher who influenced your life, you will want to tune in. #okstate #oklaed #teaching

Oklahoma lawmakers pushing for fentanyl education in schools trib.al/oZnszW4

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

200 in the U.S. died from fentanyl today. And yesterday. And will tomorrow. Most were young adults. China and Cartels know this. They will be unrelenting in keeping the supply coming.