Most of you had a fun fourth of July. Fireworks, booze, barbecues, hanging by the pool or going to the beach, hanging with friends and family, watching baseball and being as lazy as possible (me), etc.
Oklahoma City Thunder fans did not have a fun fourth of July. Kevin Durant shocked the world by choosing to sign with the Golden State Warriors on Monday, after spending all nine years of his decorated career with the Thunder.
The Thunder fan base understandably did not take it well. Add in that it took place on the fourth of July when people were already going to be drinking heavily and setting things on fire, and it’s not hard to figure out how many OKC fans showed their displeasure over the Durant departure.
But these guys took things to another level:
You leave us…We leave you! #ThunderIndependenceDay @KDTrey5 @BleacherReport @incarceratedbob @FakeSportsCentr pic.twitter.com/AJdkBY0HQf
— Westin Wood (@WestinWood) July 4, 2016
Good lord. Then there was the classic “TRADER!” reaction which also included the classic burn-the-jersey move:
TRADER #KD35 @SportsCenter pic.twitter.com/NB22KfKsj0 — Jacob Puma (@Jay_Pums) July 4, 2016
Traitor. Damn it.
— Jacob Puma (@Jay_Pums) July 4, 2016
Lighting a jersey on fire and misspelling “traitor”, all in one tweet. ‘Merica.
Then we had a guy wearing a Durant jersey with “traitor” on it (Hey, he actually got the spelling right), and he got yelled at by a woman saying that Durant put Oklahoma City on the map (h/t: Deadspin):
There was of course more jersey burning:
pic.twitter.com/uGeCqfb0T6 — Nick Medina (@rapfavnick) July 4, 2016
I wish Durant would have stuck around like the plastic this jersey was made out of pic.twitter.com/jhl7iLuy4e
— Jacob DeLaughter (@jakedelaughter) July 4, 2016
A guy taking a video of his crying son, and tweeting “thanks for ruining my son’s day” to Durant. Sigh.
Hey @KDTrey5, thanks for ruining my son’s day. pic.twitter.com/lT15F2Hyqg — Terry Rimmer (@T_Rimm) July 4, 2016
And then there’s this yahoo:
People in OKC are NOT happy with KD. Here’s Big Rich, who runs the Pink Parrot, one of the best bars out there. pic.twitter.com/62xIVxmf99
— Landry Locker (@LandryLocker) July 4, 2016
Thunder fans should be heartbroken. They should be angry. But they should also be appreciative of the nine superstar years Durant gave them, and respect his decision to try to win a title elsewhere. It’s not his fault that didn’t happen in OKC.
In time, most of the Thunder fans probably will realize those things. But right now, all of that is understandably hard for them to think about, and we’ll surely be seeing reactions like the ones above for a while.
