The Thunder and Warriors play in Oklahoma City on Saturday, which means it’s finally time for Kevin Durant’s awkward return to OKC.
And with Thunder fans still extremely bitter over Durant’s departure last summer, the Warriors will travel with three times as much security as they usually do, according to ESPN. Durant’s manager Rich Kleiman will sit next to his mother, and they will be supervised by a group of security officials throughout the evening.
These precautions may seem extreme, but there figures to quite a bit of vitriol toward Durant in Oklahoma City. When LeBron James returned to Cleveland in December 2010, months after leaving, the crowd was brutal. If these T-shirts are any indication Durant will get a similar reception.
OKC fans will have zero chill tonight. pic.twitter.com/8OXfqt3dgI
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 11, 2017
Lots of shirts around OKC for KD's return tonight, but this might be the best I've seen, from @blue_7: pic.twitter.com/tp1jLqcDNh
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) February 11, 2017
Durant will reportedly venture in the city to some extent but will send Kleiman in his stead to the various local organizations he’s connected to due to a tight window in OKC. Speaking on Bill Simmons’ podcast this week, Durant made clear he still has love for people in Oklahoma City and at Chesapeake Energy Arena and that he’s not bitter toward the Thunder organization, its employees or even Russell Westbrook.
Saturday night has the potential to be an exceptionally fun game between two great teams and loads of top players. Hopefully the fans stay in line and all that security personnel turns out to be unneeded.
[ESPN]
