ROOKIE I
THE By Nathan Walls
t would be considered an eventful year for the most seasoned of players. But, in this, his rookie season
in the NBA, Westover High school graduate Eric Maynor is already
making a name for himself. His team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, advanced to the
68 | Food & Wine • 2010
playoffs for the first time as the youngest team in the league, going up against the Los Angeles Lakers and one of the NBA’s marquee players, Kobe Bryant. He began his professional basketball
career with the Utah Jazz, subbing in for regular starter and NBA All-Star Deron Williams. Two days before Christmas,
the Jazz traded him to Oklahoma City. Maynor didn’t miss a beat; the Thunder staff sent him an electronic copy of the playbook, which he read on the plane from Salt Lake City to Phoenix, where his new team took on the Phoenix Suns. This season, he averaged more than 15 minutes a game, contributing an average
