Dadouv47 wrote:sp6r=underrated wrote:Dadouv47 wrote:
OKC won't retire his jersey. Presti and our entire organisation knows how the fans feel about Durant.
His number was used after he left btw
The Lakers retired Cooper's number and the Spurs retired Bowen's number because those guys played critical roles in a glory era. It wasn't because they were ever among the best players in the NBA or that their fans felt those guys were among the best in the NBA. Their numbers were retired because the fans and the team as a company loved em for the effort with which they played and the way they maximized their talent.
And that is exact opposite of KD in OKC. If his run was something like Kareem in Milwaukee, who had a much more graceful exit, than yeah his number gets retired. But his run wasn't nearly as good and his exit was fairly brutal.
and after he left he kept trashtalking about our team and our coach (well he was right about Billy Donovan). This isn't the kind of stuff our franchise values.
I never understood the hate towards him back then. The team was unique in terms of talent with Russ, KD, Adams, Harden and even some good wings. The reason they failed to convert in to titles imo was simply the coach being incapable to put a leash on Russ, who was in full ego mode back then and put his status and numbers above the teams' success. He looked off KD the best scorer in the league by a mile on last plays over and over. What is KD supposed to to? We dont know what happened behind closed doors an what discussions where lead but i felt he even stayed too long, giving them his prime when they leaned towards Russ instead.
Fans can be very stubborn and dumb at times, expecting these guys to never ever move from a situation that is really bad for them. There is absolutely ZERO reason to be mad with KD because he left. Where he went to, thats a different story but that should not influence the way they see him in terms of giving his best for OKC.