Oklahoma City got a taste of what it would be like to be an NBA town in 2005-2006 when it housed the New Orleans Hornets who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
Clearly, they liked what they saw, and in 2006, a group of Oklahoma City investors led by Clay Bennett purchased the Seattle SuperSonics, and after a two-year legal battle, the Oklahoma City Thunder played its inaugural season.
Since then, OKC has been Thunder-crazy, continuing to show its support for a team that quickly developed into one of the NBA's most competitive teams.
One of the things we love about the OKC Thunder is that the players typically manage to keep themselves out of trouble, which seems to be quite a feat in the professional sports league with the highest arrest rate.
Unfortunately, not everyone manages to keep his nose clean. Last month, guard Deandre Liggins was dismissed from the team after being arrested and charged with felony domestic violence and kidnapping (read more).
And now, misdemeanor assault charges have been re-filed against center Kendrick Perkins following an incident in Houston in June. Perkins is accused of assaulting a woman and her brother after getting in a fender-bender outside a nightclub. The driver of the other vehicle says she got out of her car to speak with the driver of the vehicle in which Perkins was riding.
The alleged victim says that occupants of the other vehicle were immediately belligerent. She says that another woman got out of the car acting like she was going to fight, and that Perkins' brother-in-law, Quincy Alpough, who was also charged in the incident pushed her.
Her own brother then got out of the car upon seeing his sister pushed. She says Perkins punched her and her brother, and Alpough elbowed a woman in the throat. The victim claims that after they had fallen to the ground, she, her brother, and the other woman were all kicked repeatedly by the other group.
The assault case was initially dismissed, but prosecutors re-filed charges this week. Other incidents involving Kendrick Perkins during his tenure as a Thunder player include a 2011 arrest for disorderly conduct and public intoxication; the charge was subsequently dropped. Earlier this year, Perkins's wife, Vanity Perkins, was involved in an altercation at an Oklahoma City nail salon. Police were called, but Perkins arrived at the scene before law enforcement, allegedly cursing at employees and throwing a Gatorade bottle at the salon windows. No charges were filed in the incident.
