Kevin Durant’s first game back in Oklahoma City as a member of the Warriors went about as expected. The Warriors won pretty easily, Durant and Westbrook clashed on the court and the Oklahoma City crowd heckled Durant unmercifully the entire night.
While expected, the venom with which the Thunder faithful hurled insults and hatred towards Durant caught his mother Wanda, who attended nearly every Oklahoma City home game while Durant was there, off guard.
“The most vicious things you could say, they said about my son tonight. It’s hurtful,” Wanda Durant told ESPN’s Ramona Shelbourne.
“They called him a snake, a sellout, a b—h,” she said. “It’s just a sad day. I understand that they loved him. I do understand it. But the name calling. The people with the cupcakes on their backs. … It didn’t have to be like this.”
Despite their best efforts to shake Durant, the Oklahoma City crowd was unsuccessful as their once beloved star hung 34 points and nine rebounds on the Thunder on 12-of-21 shooting in the 130-114 Golden State win. Durant was able to play through the name-calling and “cupcake” chants, but for his mother, it was far more than she expected.
“It’s the people who make it so personal, and attack his character so viciously, like they know him – (all) because he decided to play somewhere else,” she told USA Today’s Sam Amick. “But then, the bold thing is they’re standing in my face. They’re bold enough to call him a snake and a coward. One guy even called him – I can’t even say it – the p-word. In my face.”
From her comments, it’s clear that Wanda Durant was prepared for boos directed at her son, but not the personal attacks, which, unfortunately, tends to be how it almost always goes.
A player choosing to leave a team and a community for greener pastures is to many sports fans the worst thing one can do. To them, it’s a betrayal and a decision made by the player to personally attack their city. So, when that player returns, they find it their duty to bring the personal attacks back in their direction.
