Durant's Game 5 exit sparks sympathy even in OKC
The hop. The collapse. The reach toward his right Achilles tendon.
It added up to a rare moment of sympathy from even some of Kevin Durant's most ardent critics.
“You just sit there with your mouth open, and you just can't believe it,” said Thunder fan Rich Taylor, who watched the game live at home Monday. “You don't want that to happen to anybody.”
Taylor was the same man who, in a viral 2016 video, planted a “FOR SALE BY COWARD” sign in front of Durant's former home after he announced his decision to sign with the Warriors. Durant's relationship with NBA fans has remained complex since he left OKC, a city he called home for eight years, to strengthen the Warriors' dynasty.
A generational t al ent. A polarizing decision. Now this season, he's come under fire for an altercation with teammate Draymond Green and a rant to the media about how it covered his impeding free agency. Durant's Achilles injury added a layer to that relationship.
“I think strangely, reputationally this was a good moment for him,” said The Athletic's Anthony Slater, who has covered Durant for six years, first for The Oklahoman and now in the Bay Area, “even though it's an awful human moment for him, and it's really going to suck for him into the future, and it shouldn't have taken this for him to earn a chunk back of the respect that he really probably already should have had.”
Early Tuesday morning, the official Twitter account of the City of OKC posted a “get well soon” message, accompanied by a photo of Durant visiting tornado victims in 2013 — that May he also pledged to donate $1 million from his foundation to tornado relief.
Durant's relationship with Oklahoma City has been fraught for the past three years. Fans posted videos of burning Durant jerseys when he announced he was leaving. Durant's personal Twitter account posted criticism of the Thunder, leading to speculation about burner accounts. Most recently, fans and media members called Durant's visit to OKC for Nick Collison's jersey retirement a publicity stunt. Durant remained behind the scenes during the ceremony.
“He's one of the most misunderstood people,” Warriors general manager Bob Myers said between sniffles in an emotional postgame news conference Wednesday. “He's a good teammate. He's a good person. It's not fair.”
With that history, Oklahoma City' s sympathetic tweet to Durant provoked mixed responses.
Some applauded the city for
its class. Others revisited gripes with Durant and said it didn't owe him anything. They argued back and forth.
Taylor, the general manager at the Pink Parrot who is better known as Big Rich, fell somewhere in the middle.
“We're all sitting around hoping he comes back and gets his [butt] kicked on the court,” Taylor said. “We don't want him to get hurt or miss games or anything like that.”
Taylor has remained consistently outspoken in his criticism of Durant.
Back in 2017, Taylor made news again during Durant's first game in OKC with the Warriors. Security guards intervened in a shouting match between him and Golden State's Draymond Green.
After the game, Green said Taylor called players “p-words” and “little boy.” Taylor denied Green's accusations, arguing that he was aware of the microscope he was under while seated so close to the Warriors bench. No one refutes that Taylor joined in on the widespread booing and heckling of Durant that night at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
“Nothing will ever affect the fact that he's the softest superstar in the history of the NBA,” Taylor said. “His decision was the weakest decision that I've ever seen, and it's not just my opinion.”
In Durant's first game back from a right calf injury that held him out for a month, he scored 11 points in 12 minutes of playing time Monday. That Game 5 return, which appeared to be too soon, didn't change Taylor's mind about Durant.
“Looks like a totally different offense when you add Kevin Durant,” analyst Mark Jackson said on the ABC broadcast as Golden State took a 16-10 lead.
“I wonder if they're better with him,” Jeff Van Gundy quipped, poking fun at a debate that played out over the course of Durant's initial injury. They chuckled.
Less than two minutes into the second quarter, Durant's right Achilles took him down. But the Warriors eked out a 106105 victory.