Kevin Durant doesn’t have much to be nervous about. He’s a former MVP, a seven-time All Star and he’s widely considered one of the three best players in the world. He’s played in four of the last six Western Conference finals including a Finals appearance in 2012. Short of a championship, every box on Durant’s career checklist has been marked. Anxiety doesn’t riddle a player of Durant’s stature in a meaningless USA Basketball exhibition game. That is, unless, said player recently left his small-market team of eight years to join a 73-win club in Silicon Valley.
Team USA’s exhibition match against China was Durant’s first time playing in Oracle Arena since signing with the Golden State Warriors. Draymond Green told The Undefeated that KD was a little anxious about playing in front of a Warriors crowd as a protagonist for the first time.
“[Durant] kept saying, ‘Man, I got jitters. First-game jitters.’ But it was great to see,” Green said.
Durant is accustomed to playing in front of a raucous home crowd. Chesapeake Arena is a deafening place during the playoffs, but Oracle might be the only arena in the league that can surpass its intensity. The Warriors’ faithful have always been loud and devout even through those achingly beautiful Troy Murphy years. Now that they possess perhaps the most talented team in NBA history, the roof may pop off the arena. Soon enough KD will be trading in those jitters for cheers, and — presumably — wins.
(Via The Undefeated)