Kevin Durant on treatment from Thunder fans: ‘I would do the same thing’
Kevin Durant bears no ill will toward Oklahoma City Thunder fans for the reception he got in his return to the city.
In a wide-ranging chat on the Bill Simmons Podcast, Durant admitted that he wanted to see what playing the villain was like when returning as a member of the Golden State Warriors, and doesn’t fault Thunder fans for the boos, cupcake jibes, and hostile reception.
“Man, I know all about sports. I know all about being a fan,” Durant said, via Darnell Mayberry of NewsOK. “If I was a fan of that team and I was in their shoes, I would do the same thing. And I understand that. But what makes it even sweeter is that I think at some point in your career, if you’re considered one of the best, you should want to feel loved and hated. And I felt that. I wanted to see what both sides felt like.”
Durant also admitted he wanted to chat with Russell Westbrook at the NBA All-Star Game, but the media scrutiny on the pair made it impossible for him to do so.
“I wanted to ask Russell, like, ‘How’s your family doing, man? How you feel?’ Stuff that normal people talk about,” Durant said. “But there’s so many cameras watching and it’s ‘Oh, what’d they talk about? They didn’t look at each other. They didn’t even say hi.’ It was just making me so mad.”
While there were definitely some complaints about Durant’s treatment, the player himself isn’t making them. He seems to know the score.
