dougthonus wrote:Thought this article on Durant was an interesting read, wish I could see the whole thing on WSJ, but I can only see the piece on ESPN.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27585406/durant-some-days-hate-circus-nbaThose same undertones still cause Durant to look back with bitterness on his time with Oklahoma City, where he spent eight seasons after the franchise moved there from Seattle after his rookie season in 2007-08. He said the positive relationships he had built over that time disappeared instantly after he made the decision to join the Warriors as a free agent after the 2015-16 season.
"People coming to my house and spray-painting on the for sale signs around my neighborhood," Durant said of the time after his decision. "People making videos in front of my house and burning my jerseys and calling me all types of crazy names."
Durant remains bitter because he feels that "venomous" emotion toward him, despite charitable contributions he made to the community, still lingers.
"Such a venomous toxic feeling when I walked into that arena [after joining the Warriors]," Durant told the WSJ. "And just the organization, the trainers and equipment managers, those dudes is pissed off at me? Ain't talking to me? I'm like, 'Yo, this is where we going with this? Because I left a team and went to play with another team?'
"I'll never be attached to that city again because of that. I eventually wanted to come back to that city and be part of that community and organization, but I don't trust nobody there. That s--- must have been fake, what they was doing. The organization, the GM, I ain't talked to none of those people, even had a nice exchange with those people, since I left."
Lot's of good quotes, I think Durant makes good points in many of his comments but feel they'll ultimately be taken badly.
Clearly I don't know this guy on a personal level, but he comes across as overly sensitive. And though on the surface, what he said may make you side with him, without knowing both sides of the story, I simply can't buy what he says.
I find it highly unlikely that ALL staff members, ranging from trainers, equipment managers would all stop talking to him, at least without reason. Does it seem probable? Perhaps, but I just can't imagine it to be the case, unless all of them individually had a reason not to.
Or maybe he just changed to the point where they simply didn't want to asscoiate with him anymore, and I get that too, because some of my closest childhood friend I'm not friends with no more, but that's just life and we don't get sensitive about and continue to live our lives.
This dude is one of the most sensitive players in the NBA, and the fact that he continues to feel slighted after all that he has achieved is quite honestly sad and pathetic.