If he makes it through that he will join a six-week camp in Florida which could see him allocated to one of six teams - Amsterdam Admirals, Berlin Thunder, Cologne Centurions, Frankfurt Galaxy, Hamburg Sea Devils or Rhein Fire.

BBC: SPORT | Athletics | Chambers is given track lifeline

Durant has emerged as one of the top two or three players in the NBA at the age of 23, leading the Thunder to the NBA Finals.

FORBES: NBA Draft 2012: Of Darko, Greg Oden and the Scariest Moment in Professional Sports

As the art directors scrambled to address last-minute requests and the copywriters (including yours truly) banged away on final, final versions of those blessed sentences no one supposedly reads anymore, it started raining hard as hell with thunder and lightning, a major rarity in Northern California.

FORBES: An Ode to Work: The Raw Joy of Doing One's Job

Many people thought it was thunder, or fireworks or one of the occasional bangs from a local foundry, the biggest employer in town.

WSJ: Clintonville, Wis. Becomes a Real Boom Town

This sequence, as much as any other (and there were so many others similar to this one), typified the Miami Heat's 91-85 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

WSJ: NBA Finals: Heat Take Series Lead