I thought I’d post this in front of tonight’s game in Oklahoma City with both Kevin Durant and James Harden returning to Oklahoma City as members of the New Jersey Nets.
This piece was written in 2019 in the WSJ and to the this day I find it sad Kevin came back for Nick Collison’s jersey retirement ceremony and wasn’t able to be on the floor with Nick for fear of being booed and ruining the night for Nick somewhat.
Let me explain something to you Trump insurrectionists in OKC…you never would have made it to ONE single Western Conference Finals without Kevin Durant. Not one.
I was pissed at Kevin for about six months after the defection to Golden State, but you get over things and you should be able to accept things like an adult. It hurt that he left. It did. But life moves along.
In retrospect from a basketball standpoint, Kevin clearly made the right decision. Oklahoma City was never going to win an NBA championship with Russell Westbrook as its starting point guard. Period.
Kevin won two rings with Golden State and two NBA Finals MVP trophies. Russell Westbrook with Paul George replacing Kevin never won a single playoff series in two years together. Westbrook and PG never even made it to a Game 7 in either of those first round exits. In fact, the entire organization has to this date never won a first round playoff series without Kevin Durant.
Obviously there’s no crowd tonight per Covid in OKC…so we can only hope the Thunder organization hasn’t installed booing cardboard people to continue the booing of Kevin Durant.
Kevin never did what AD did in New Orleans. He honored his contract to the letter. He was a gracious contributor to Oklahoma City. He just decided to do what Americans all over this country do when they have a chance to better their own careers..namely, he pursued a better opportunity.
Who amongst us wouldn’t advise their son or daughter to do the same?
To me, as I look back on this with detached objectivity… I would hold this over Sam Presti. As a GM…he never corraled Russell Westbrook. Kevin Durant may whine like a bitch at times on various social network platforms, but his game melds with anyone in the league from a basketball standpoint. Durant plays both ends of the floor and is an unselfish player. He moves the ball. He understands the concept of Big Dog coupled with the basketball doctrine of time and score.
Russell Westbrook to this date still doesn’t get it. It’s sad watching Russell in Washington D.C. right now. Incredibly sad.
So…as this game unfolds tonight I wonder if Kevin would have been booed tonight in normal circumstances or given a polite round of applause.
Some advice to the Trump Christian insurrectionist evangelicals in Oklahoma City … you shouldn’t be booing anyone given your own pathetic, abysmal uber hypocritical conduct these past four years. You might want to take a long, hard look in the mirror before you embarrass yourself further before booing Kevin Durant ever again.
Turn off Fox, read some books, and grow up. The first book you might try is the New Testament in the Bible. Try that one on for size.
And if I were Kevin Durant’s best friend, I’d say, “Dude–stay off social media and just embrace being the second best basketball player of your time.”
The end.