Kevin Durant isn't letting trolls get to him ahead of Thunder banner night
In many ways, we're still feeling the effects of Kevin Durant's decision to jump ship from the Oklahoma City Thunder to join the juggernaut Golden State Warriors during the summer of 2016.
For one, the NBA's restrictive second-apron rules were created in large part to try to prevent an established great team like the Warriors from ever simply adding a superstar like Durant ever again. For the other, it took the Thunder over half a decade to recover in earnest from losing arguably the best player they've ever had. And after winning the 2025 NBA title — the first in franchise history — you could say their project went very well.
That's what makes the Thunder's NBA opening night matchup against Durant's Houston Rockets so juicy. Even though he has two championships with the late 2010s Warriors, the prolific scorer is going to be in attendance for the banner night of the franchise that some people in hoops circles think he left "high and dry" for the "easy way out."
Ever the #online maniac on X that he is, Durant couldn't help but talk trash to NBA fans who tried to troll him by reminding him he'll be present for the first-ever Thunder banner night ... as a member of the opposing team.
Predictably, as a two-time NBA champion with a laundry list of impressive accomplishments, Durant was having none of it:
When another fan tried to call Durant out for joking that it took too long for the Thunder to win a title after he left, his response was apt. It was just some light [expletive] talking. Nothing more.
Durant has every right to feel this way. He's got his NBA championships. He's got his Olympic gold medals. He will finish as one of the NBA's all-time leading scorers. And he has generational wealth (and then some). He's an iconic, all-time player who has been there and done that. At this point, little snipes here and there about what he should and shouldn't be upset about will, understandably, never faze him.
To be clear, the NBA almost certainly placed Durant and the ascending Rockets against the Thunder on opening night for a reason. It's a juicy matchup. It's a matchup between, in my estimation, two of the three biggest threats for the 2025-2026 NBA title. That Durant has to face down the first-ever reigning champion Thunder team probably played a part, too. But that doesn't mean games like this have any extra meaning for Durant anymore.
He buried his Thunder demons as a member of the Warriors a long time ago.
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