Curry greets former teammate Durant with hug before Warriors-Nets opener
Kevin Durant was back on an NBA court for his first meaningful game since tearing his Achilles tendon in the 2019 Finals.
Before Tuesday’s NBA season opener between the Warriors and the Brooklyn Nets, he and Steph Curry shared a familiar greeting — albeit under new circumstances. Durant, who left the Warriors for the Nets just after that Finals loss, gave Curry a handshake, a hug, and an apparent bit of needling about his braided hair. It was all smiles.
“Good to see old friends. Good to see old teammates,” Durant said after scoring 22 points in 25 minutes of a 125-99 Nets victory. “I wouldn’t say there were any emotions.”
Asked after the game what it was like to play against Durant, Curry deadpanned. “Awful,” he said. “We got our butts beat across the board.”
Durant played three years for the Warriors, earning two championships and two Finals MVP awards.
The Warriors were at the pinnacle of basketball during Durant’s tenure with Golden State, but the tension was palpable between him and other members of the organization, notably
Draymond Green, with whom he had a public argument in November of the 2018-19 season.
Green did not dress for Tuesday’s season opener due to a foot injury, but he and Durant embraced after the game. All smiles again.
Beyond Curry, Green and head coach Steve Kerr (with whom Durant clashed occasionally), Durant faced a team that’s entirely different from the Warriors roster he left in July 2019. Only Kevon Looney and Damion Lee were on the 2018-19 team, along with Klay Thompson, who will miss this season with a torn Achilles tendon.