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Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets waive former Alabama players

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Oklahoma City Thunder, Denver Nuggets waive former Alabama players


Former Alabama players Charles Bediako and Alex Reese were on the same court for an NBA preseason game on Tuesday night, when the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Denver Nuggets 124-94.

On Wednesday, they were on the NBA transactions report together, too. Both were waived – Bediako by the Nuggets and Reese by the Thunder.

Reese signed with Oklahoma City on Sept. 27. Bediako joined Denver on Oct. 8.

Both players were in training camp on Exhibit 10 contracts.

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An Exhibit 10 contract is a one-year, minimum-salary, non-guaranteed deal. If the player doesn’t make the NBA team’s roster, the contract includes a provision that will pay the player a bonus of up to $77,500 if he spends at least 60 days with the team’s NBA Gatorade League affiliate.

The Thunder’s G League affiliate is the Oklahoma City Blue. The Nuggets’ G League affiliate is the Grand Rapids Gold.

Reese and Bediako were not teammates with the Crimson Tide. A former Pelham High School standout, Reese played for Alabama in four seasons — from 2017-18 through 2020-21. Bediako played for the Tide in 2021-22 and 2022-23.

Reese had a season off after Alabama before averaging 23.7 points in the Luxembourg Basketball League in the 2022-23 campaign.

Last season, the 6-foot-9 forward averaged 11.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots in 43 games with the Rip City Remix of the NBA G League.

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Reese averaged 7.6 points per game playing for the Portland Trail Blazers’ entry in the NBA 2K24 Summer League in Las Vegas in July.

Reese played in three of the Thunder’s four preseason games. He had seven points, six rebounds, three assists, one steal and one blocked shot.

Bediako averaged 5.5 points and 5.1 rebounds in 17 games for the Austin Spurs in the NBA G League last season.

The 7-0 center averaged 3.7 points and 2.3 rebounds for the Orlando Magic in the NBA 2K24 Summer League.

Bediako got 51 seconds of court time in Tuesday night’s game for his only preseason action.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.





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1 injured in I-40 rollover crash in OKC

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1 injured in I-40 rollover crash in OKC


OKLAHOMA CITY –

One person was hurt in a crash Wednesday night along Interstate 40 in northeast Oklahoma City, according to police.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says 26-year-old Jada Berry was driving on I-40 near Interstate 35 when her vehicle left the roadway and rolled over twice.

Berry was injured in the crash and taken to a local hospital. Her condition has not yet been released.

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OHP says Berry was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. No charges have been filed at this time.

Troopers at the scene say no one else was in the car.





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New restaurants coming to OKC in 2026

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New restaurants coming to OKC in 2026


OKLAHOMA CITY –

In 2026, Oklahoma City’s food scene will continue to expand. From new locations of fan favorite Oklahoma restaurants to new fast food chains, here’s the food coming to OKC in 2026.

Tamashii Ramen House (Quail Springs)

After the success of other locations, the fourth Tamishii location will hit OKC in 2026. The new location will be located at Kilpatrick and Memorial, near Quail Springs.

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This Japanese restaurant has various flavors of ramen, fried rice, gyoza, and much more.

Tamashii has three other locations across the state:

Bojangles

Two Bojangles are expected to open in 2026. These will be the fast food chain’s first locations in the state.

One restaurant is finishing construction at North Penn Avenue and West Memorial Road. This restaurant is set to open in early 2026. The other location will be near Interstate 240 and South Eastern Avenue in southeast Oklahoma City, and it has no timeline for its opening.

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Bojangles specializes in Southern fried chicken and biscuits.

Papadeaux’s

The classic Cajun restaurant Papadeaux will soon have a restaurant in OKC. This restaurant’s opening will mark Oklahoma’s first Papaduex location, joining the more than 30 restaurants nationwide.

It is not known when this restaurant will open.

New restaurants brought flavors from different parts of the world to Oklahoma in 2025.

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Giant leg lamp lights up small Oklahoma town, turning a Christmas classic into a year-round attraction

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Giant leg lamp lights up small Oklahoma town, turning a Christmas classic into a year-round attraction


Every holiday season, families flock to Main Street in Chickasha, Oklahoma, for its parade and dazzling light show. But it’s not just the brightly lit Christmas tree catching their attention — a nearly 50-foot-tall leg lamp is stealing the spotlight.

The giant statue, which officially reopened as a permanent attraction in November 2022, pays homage to the 1983 Christmas classic “A Christmas Story.” It’s inspired by one of the film’s iconic scenes, where Ralphie’s dad Mr. Parker gets the leg lamp as a “major award” for winning a newspaper crossword puzzle contest.

“When he pulled the leg lamp out of the box, I could not get that out of my mind. I mean, that was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen,” Tim Elliot, CEO of Standley Systems, a family-owned business technology company based in Chickasha, told “CBS Mornings.”

A few years ago, that scene made a lightbulb go off in Elliot’s head – put a giant leg lamp front and center on Main Street. 

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The Chickasha Festival of Light with its 3.5 million twinkle lights and 170-foot-tall Christmas tree has frequently been named one of the best light shows in the country, bringing more than 250,000 visitors each year. But Elliot wanted to add something special that would draw people to Chickasha year-round. So, he pitched the quirky idea at a meeting for economic development.

“I pulled the leg lamp out and set it on the conference table, and I said, ‘How about a 100-foot leg lamp at the end of Main Street?’”

Attendees laughed and shrugged off the idea, suggesting it was never going to happen. But Elliot was determined. He raised more than $1 million, and in 2021, the statue went up.

But like the movie, the lamp kicked off controversy. 

Jim Cowan, Chickasha economic development director and president of the Chickasha Chamber of Commerce, said attorneys representing Warner Brothers sent a letter to the Chickasha Community Foundation that essentially read, “cease and desist, destroy it, tear it down.”

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“We were very determined. We weren’t going to let that happen. That if we had to go and battle in the courts we would because we felt like we did things the right way,” Cowan said.

The group explained to Warner Brothers that they were not profiting off the lamp because they don’t charge admission, and a neighboring gift shop sells licensed products from the film. Elliot says the group hasn’t heard from the entertainment company in about a year and a half.

That’s good news for visitors – like John Prock from Washington, D.C., who drove from his parents’ house in Oklahoma to visit the giant leg lamp.

“My parents mentioned it, so I came down to visit them, and they said, ‘Well, while you’re here, let’s go see the leg lamp.’ So we literally hopped in the car, drove almost three hours to get here, and here we are,” Prock said.

The lamp has become a beacon for tourists and businesses. 

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“Tourism is at an all time high and a lot of that can be traced one way or another to a leg lamp,” Cowan said.

Chet Hitt grew up just 20 miles away before moving out west and becoming a successful business developer. Now, he’s back home – and has big plans, investing millions in the town.He has plans to develop a business park and renovate downtown, as more and more people come to town to see the lamp. 

“You drive down this little town and you see kids playing and the community behind things and the support. It just really they buy into what’s here,” Hitt said, adding that he hopes to see continued growth in the town over the next decade.



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