Kevin Durant thinks that what he brought to the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Golden State Warriors should be honored greatly once he calls it quits.
And in his viewpoint, jersey no. 35 only deserves to be immortalized forever by both franchises.
The future Hall of Famer said on Logan Murdock of The Ringer that it’ll be disastrous if OKC or the Bay Area won’t retire his number because of the rift he had with them upon his departure.
“Every one of these places I played is my home. I can imagine me when I’m done, and I don’t think any one of these franchises would be like, ‘No, K, what you did here is not a part of our history.’ I’m going to be a Hall of Famer when I’m done, one of the greatest to ever play. If you don’t want me to be a part of your program when I’m done playing, then that’s personal.
“OKC has to retire my jersey. It wouldn’t even be good for the game of basketball if they didn’t. The same with Golden State. I’m still doing what I’m doing here in Brooklyn, but if I continue on what I’m doing four or five years, then I’ll feel the same way about this program. I better have a home. Because I feel like I am basketball. I breathe it. This is my DNA. I put in the time and respect and love for each one of these programs on and off the floor to get that type of recognition. If I don’t do it, then it’s personal.”
Despite creating a notorious image upon shocking not just the Thunder fandom but also the whole basketball landscape by leaving the Loud City for a 73-9 regular season team in Warriors, there’s no question that Durant currently remains as the ball club’s greatest player. He put the OKC on the basketball map upon the transition made from Seattle Supersonics, and led them to three conference finals and a trip to the 2012 NBA Finals; also becoming the first in their history to win the prized MVP honors in 2014.
Upon landing in Oakland in 2016 which was hailed by the majority as the disturbing move that affected the balance of power in the NBA, Durant further molded the Warriors into an invincible collection of talent, becoming the main villain of the rest of the 29 teams in the late 2010s decade. He is the undisputed Finals MVP of their back-to-back championship exploits from 2017 to 2018 and left them prior to the 2019-2020 season to join forces with Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn Nets.
No matter what happened at the tail end of his tenure in both Oklahoma City and Golden State and the amount of bitterness that was created upon his departure, Durant easily deserves his own flowers upon exerting all of the efforts he had in the pursuit of winning and excellence.
