If you play basketball for the Oklahoma City Thunder, this is probably the worst time of the year to tweet a joke about domestic violence. And no, that's not just because October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Back in September, everyone's favorite hardworking benchwarmer, Deandre Liggins, was charged with nine felonies following an alleged assault on his girlfriend. The charges included two counts of kidnapping, two counts of domestic assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, three counts of domestic abuse in the presence of a minor, and one count of violating a protective order. He was released by the Thunder on September 6th.
Nearly one month later, slowest man in the universe nominee, Kendrick Perkins, was hit with misdemeanor assault charges. They stemmed from a July incident where Perkins allegedly punched a woman and her brother outside a Houston nightclub. According to Ogle Moles, that's illegal. So far, Perk is still on the team. This probably means there's either a little more to the story, or that Kendrick Perkins really does have pics of Sam Presti, Scott Brooks and Rumble snorting blow while herding goats in the mountains of Wyoming.
Knowing about all those very public and recent incidents, you would think that everyone in the Thunder organization would be wary about discussing the topic of domestic violence. Not that it's something that shouldn't be discussed, but it's a sensitive topic and the last thing you want to do is come across as – or even be – some naive or flippant asswhipe who doesn't take the issue seriously.
For example, you don't want to pull a Thabo Sefolosha and make jokes like this on Twitter: