The Oklahoma City Thunder held practice on Friday, Oct. 9. They're amid a four-day break between NBA preseason games. Last time, they fell in a 128-126 preseason loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault and Bennett Stirtz talked to the local media. Daigneault talked about their recent staff addition of Maral Javadifar. She was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' strength and conditioning coach before she joined OKC this past summer.
Meanwhile, Stirtz talked about his OKC fandom. He also talked about fitting into his role as he goes from the main guy in college to a role player on the Thunder and playing alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Let's look at everything OKC said at practice on Friday, Oct. 9:
Thunder practice today.
Nice little 5-day break between preseason games pic.twitter.com/88VhSKFI5T
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 9, 2026
Thomas Sorber at practice today pic.twitter.com/KvYIUuROL2
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 9, 2026
Bennett Stirtz on playing off-ball: “Whatever the team needs me to do to win. It’s easier when you have the best player in the world out there.” pic.twitter.com/fuAwENtEkx
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 9, 2026
Bennett Stirtz on Aday Mara’s 2 preseason games: “He makes the game easier for everyone. He’s just a force out there.” pic.twitter.com/O7FkXVKIqv
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 9, 2026
Bennett Stirtz on OKC fans: “It’s super cool. I’m from Kansas City, Missouri, so it’s the closest NBA team from me. I’ve been to a couple of games here.” pic.twitter.com/gRn9UC2Llb
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 9, 2026
Mark Daigneault on Maral Javadifar — the OKC coach who worked with Aday Mara’s conditioning this summer: “MJ is really talented. She's got a basketball background. She played basketball in college, but then she's been in the NFL since. She's got a range of life experiences.” pic.twitter.com/4uWTuVqKzQ
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 9, 2026
Mark Daigneault on OKC’s 5-day break between preseason games: “We try to play relatively early. The purpose of that is to test ourselves… We usually try to give ourselves kinda a second camp.” pic.twitter.com/RcmQdqz1Z6
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 9, 2026
Mark Daigneault on OKC’s pass-happy offense: “I thought in both preseason games we let the defense tell us what to do in terms of the decisions we made. Guys played with great intentions. We were aggressive.” pic.twitter.com/NEc3Vg9dKS
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 9, 2026
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Recap: What OKC Thunder said at Friday, Oct. 9 practice
