Kevin Durant is hoping to lead a third team to an NBA Finals appearance this year, but will have to do so from the play-in as the Brooklyn Nets try to put the pieces together late in the season to fulfill the promise of their talented roster.
It’s a testament to his immense talent that every team Durant is on is considered among the favorites for a championship each year, and his accomplishments already over his 14-year career has him as a lock to be a first ballot Hall of Famer. However, despite that there are some that aren’t sure how exactly he’ll be remembered and honored by his past stops in the NBA, as his departure from the Oklahoma City Thunder created resentment from the fan base that some still hold onto. With the Warriors, he won two championships and two NBA Finals MVP awards, making the Finals in all three years he was in Oakland, but given his short stint, some have questioned if his No. 35 will end up in the rafters of the Chase Center.
In an interview with The Ringer’s Logan Murdock, Durant says he has no doubt that will happen in both OKC and Golden State despite the arguments, noting that no matter how acrimonious his departure from OKC or how short a tenure he had in Golden State, what he did in both places commands that placement among the franchise greats.
“OKC has to retire my jersey,” Durant said. “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.”
You’d find few outside of OKC who would disagree about the Thunder, as he and Russell Westbrook effectively built that franchise in Oklahoma City. Time figures to heal those wounds, but the Warriors question is more divisive given he was only there three years. His impact is unquestioned, but he came to a team that had already won a championship and made another Finals the year prior (having won 73 games in the regular season). Draymond Green was asked for his thoughts on an appearance on the Maggie & Perloff radio show, and was offended it was a question at all, saying that even if KD had been there for just the two championship years, he did more than enough to earn that place in franchise lore.
https://twitter.com/MaggieGray/status/1511907388361789448
Green, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson are all locks for jersey retirements eventually in San Francisco, and you feel like it really does matter how they feel about Durant joining them in the rafters because he was the last addition to that team and was there for the shortest amount of time. That Green is so adamant that it isn’t even a question should leave no doubt as to whether the 35 will be joining 30, 23, and 11 in the future.
