Kevin Durant has been getting booed lustily by the Oklahoma City Thunder crowd for a decade now, as his departure in the summer of 2016 for the Golden State Warriors cut the OKC faithful deep.
Durant was supposed to be the one that led them to the championship they finally captured last season. Anyone who thought ring night would bring a change in Durant’s reception at Paycom Center in OKC, quickly learned last night that the boos will still rain down on him. And rather amusingly, the Thunder crowd gave Steven Adams a rousing ovation right before shifting to boos for Durant.
Durant, for his part, is accustomed to it after 10 years of hearing it from the Thunder crowd every time he arrived as a visitor, and had some fun during warmups, booing them right back.
“Walking onto the court, at the hotel, walking around town; every time I come here, it’s just so much love and respect,” Durant said. “People always telling me they appreciate my time here. And I feel the same way. It’s part of the brand of OKC to boo me when my name gets introduced, but I think it’s all love after that.”
They say time heals all wounds, and the general vibe changed significantly for Durant when he’s in Oklahoma City over the past decade. Appreciation and respect were not there in the first few years after he left, but as the Thunder rebuilt around a new young core and reached the heights they always dreamed of with Durant and Russell Westbrook, those hurt feelings have eased.
Still, the Thunder fans delighted in seeing Durant’s Rockets lose on Tuesday night in the season opener (including Durant nearly having a Chris Webber timeout moment in OT), with KD on hand to see the ring night he never got in OKC.