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FIVE DAYS BEFORE the Oklahoma City Thunder opened training camp following the franchise's first-ever NBA title, Sam Presti sat down at a table inside the team's practice facility about 10 miles north of the team's downtown arena.

«Morning everybody,» the Thunder's general manager said at 10 a.m. local time as the assembled media settled in on Sept. 25.

Wearing a black button-up shirt, Presti cleared his throat and reached for several sheets of paper in front of him, squaring them up.

Presti read for the next 12 minutes, talking about the growth of the NBA and the challenges ahead for the Thunder's forthcoming season, which he referred to as Chapter 18, a nod to the team's 18th season in Oklahoma. The occasion marked Presti's annual preseason news conference, one of the rare instances in which he publicly addresses the media.

Though he is perhaps the most highly regarded executive in the league, Presti is just as known for his discomfort in the spotlight. He prefers to remain hidden in the background. But he makes these news conferences count, and they often last for two hours.

«As has been the case since the first time I sat in front of the media in Oklahoma City in 2008, I'll sit here until the last question is asked, until you guys start asking me questions like, 'What books are you reading?' and things like that, that's when I'm probably going to call it,» he said in 2022.

And, despite his protestations, that led to an annual tradition.

It unfolds like this: At the end of the news conference, someone will ask Presti what he has read over the previous several months, and the GM will oblige.

This season, as the news conference reached nearly two hours, that tradition began anew.

Presti sat back and began to catalog. He