The Reason Why KD Didn’t Reunite With The Warriors

PLUS OKC Thunder Superstar Becomes His Own Agent, Serial Burglars Targeting Athletes Finally Caught, Can Kansas Salvage Their Season?

February 19, 2025

In partnership with

Welcome to Office Chair Sports! Your home for everything Sports & Biz! Today, we’re covering top news about:

  • OKC Thunder Superstar Becomes His Own Agent

  • Serial Burglars Targeting Athletes Finally Caught

  • Chargers Kicking Off 2025 In São Paulo

  • The Reason Why KD Didn’t Reunite With The Warriors

  • Can Kansas Salvage Their Season?

Start learning AI in 2025

Everyone talks about AI, but no one has the time to learn it. So, we found the easiest way to learn AI in as little time as possible: The Rundown AI.

It's a free AI newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on the latest AI news, and teaches you how to apply it in just 5 minutes a day.

Plus, complete the quiz after signing up and they’ll recommend the best AI tools, guides, and courses – tailored to your needs.

OKC Thunder Superstar Becomes His Own Agent

The OKC superstar and NBA leading scorer has decided to represent himself, parting ways with his agent for on-court deals (he'll keep separate representation for off-court stuff).

The numbers tell the story:

  • Eligible for 4-year, $294.3M supermax this summer

  • Contract terms are fixed by the CBA (can't negotiate for more)

  • Will save himself the agent fee on a nearly $300M deal

  • Already in year 3 of his 5-year, $179.3M contract

Shai’s numbers this season are definitely looking like a supermax player:

  • NBA-best 32.5 points per game

  • Three 50-point games in the last month

  • Thunder sitting at 44-10 (8 games up in the West)

Is this a smart or dumb move?

Not many players have the financial savvy to pull this off, but when your next deal is predetermined by the league's rules, why give up a percentage to an agent?

Serial Burglars Targeting Athletes Finally Caught

Federal prosecutors have charged seven Chilean men with a crime spree targeting professional athletes' homes, allegedly stealing over $2 million in valuables.

The investigation revealed:

  • All suspects (ages 20-38) were part of a South American theft group

  • They targeted Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Bobby Portis, Joe Burrow, and players from the Bucs and Grizzlies

  • Evidence includes a photo of suspects posing with stolen items from Portis's home

  • They face up to 10 years in prison for conspiracy charges

The FBI had warned sports leagues about these organized groups last year. Their method was to target athletes "when they are known to be away from home" due to their public schedules, typically breaking in through windows or patio doors using crowbars.

Three suspects have already been indicted separately for the Burrow burglary in Cincinnati. Authorities tracked the group using cell data, surveillance footage and license plate readers.

Good riddance.

Chargers Kicking Off 2025 In São Paulo

The Chargers will play in Brazil's second NFL game, making them the first franchise to play on five continents.

Key details:

  • Game is scheduled for Friday, September 5 in São Paulo

  • Follows the Thursday night season opener

  • Opponent still to be announced

  • Chargers have previously played in Mexico, London, Tokyo, Berlin and Sydney

Chargers president A.G. Spanos called it "a tremendous opportunity to help grow the game and bring the Chargers brand to millions of sports fans across Brazil and Latin America."

The NFL's first Brazil game last season (Eagles-Packers) faced criticism for poor field conditions at Arena Corinthians, with Jalen Hurts noting it was "kind of rough to get traction." We'll see if the league addresses those concerns this time around.

Meanwhile, the NFL's international schedule is expanding rapidly, with games also announced for Ireland (Steelers) and Australia (Rams in 2026).

The Reason Why KD Didn’t Reunite With The Warriors

Everyone was expecting KD to be reunited with Steph and the Warriors before the trade deadline especially after their stellar Olympic play together this past summer.

KD didn’t want to move.

He would rather finish his season with Phoenix and see where that takes him. That ship has sailed, now Jimmy Butler is with the Warriors and is looking like a good fit.

The Suns are 26-28 and are currently in 11th place in the Western Conference and out of the play-in tournament. 1.5 games behind the 10th-place Warriors.

At age 36, Durant can still hoop. Possibly the most talented scorer the NBA has ever seen.

He’s got one year left on his contract, but we’ll see what Slim Reaper decides to do after that.

Can Kansas Salvage Their Season?

Things aren’t looking good in Kansas.

After an 89-68 beatdown by Gonzaga and a slew of injuries, Kansas is currently 6th in the Big 12.

Kansas has always been known as one of the top dogs in NCAAM, so this season is a complete 180 according to their standards.

Even with a sizable NIL war chest, it still doesn’t guarantee victory. The team still needs to mesh together.

And with the transfers that Kansas brought this offseason, you would think they’d be running over teams. Nope.

The good news is that the Jayhawks won’t miss the NCAA tournament. The selection committee ranked them as a No. 4 seed.

We’ll see what happens, but this may be the end of the Bill Self era.

Internships 🙋

1. Marketing Intern (Mavrk) - The Marketing Intern (“Mavrk”) will work closely with the marketing team and tournament staff to gain experience and exposure in a variety of areas related to sports marketing + event management, including local marketing, communications, activations, and overall event planning across multiple LIV Golf events.

2. Corporate Partnership Intern (June-April) (Seattle Kraken) - The Corporate Partnerships team focuses on the entire journey of developing a corporate partner through the sales funnel and culminating in a high level of service and activation. Our organization prides itself on partners with shared values and blue-chip brands and works hard to deliver a high return on their investment.

3. Marketing Intern (June-September) (Seattle Kraken) - The marketing team sits at the heart of the organization and is responsible for every fan-facing communication that happens outside of the arena. From ticket sales to community engagement to paid advertising to events, the marketing team concepts, plans, executes, and measures each campaign to ensure brand and fan health.

4. Stadium Events Intern (Summer 2025) (Tennessee Titans) - The Stadium Events Department helps facilitate all major events at Nissan Stadium including Concerts, Football Games (Titans & TSU), Family Entertainment (Monster Jam, Supercross). The Stadium Events Intern will assist the Stadium Events team with many operational tasks for all major events at the facility. The Stadium Events Intern will also assist with the planning & execution of stadium special & internal events.

5. Communications Intern (Green Bay Packers) - Manages all aspects of online newspaper and magazine clippings on a local and national level, including distribution. Assists in compilation of team statistics, connection and series history and weekly update and maintenance of supplemental stats package. Works with third-party web developers while regularly updating player and team information on the Packers’ NFLOMG media website.

Job Board 💰

1. Coordinator, Corporate Communications (Washington Commanders) - The Coordinator, Corporate Communications will play a key role in helping manage and implement communications strategies that achieve brand, business, and marketing objectives across internal, business, marketing and executive communications. The position will also be responsible for supporting the day-to-day operations for the corporate communications department. This position will report to the Vice President of Corporate Communications.

2. Consumer Experience Representative (Indiana Pacers) - As a Consumer Experience Representative, you will create lasting memories and experiences for Pacers season ticket holders and Gainbridge Fieldhouse guests by demonstrating an elevated level of service and experience at all times.

3. Sales Development Representative (Miami Dolphins) - The Hard Rock Stadium Sales Development program is an entry-level ticket sales position designed to give you the skillset you need to grow your career within the Ticket Sales side of professional sports. Your goal over a 12-month period as a full menu Sales Development representative of our team will be to produce ticket sales revenue across our three verticals that fall under Hard Rock Stadium.

4. Marketing Coordinator (Houston Dynamo) - The Houston Dynamo Football Club is seeking a highly motivated individual for the position of Coordinator, Integrated Marketing. The Coordinator will play a key role in supporting the marketing team to execute marketing initiatives, activations, and promotional programs that engage fans and drive brand awareness.

5. Assistant Director, Athletic Communications - The position will be the primary communications contact for several Army West Point Athletic Association Inc. (“AWPAA”) athletic programs, based on experience and fit. Duties include, but are not limited to, writing press releases, game notes, running team social media accounts, graphic design, serving as the liaison between the public, media, and athletic programs, and gameday media operations.

Thanks for reading - see you soon!