Kevin Durant congratulated his former team following the Oklahoma City Thunder 103-91 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Sunday night’s Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Durant, whom the Phoenix Suns traded to the Houston Rockets hours before tip-off in a blockbuster deal, spent the first nine years of his career with the Thunder prior to signing a contract in free agency with the Golden State Warriors, where he won both of his NBA titles.
Durant watched OKC pull off a 19-2 run that broke the game open in the second half as the lead swelled to 22 points before the Thunder held off the Tyrese Haliburton-less Pacers for their first crown in franchise history.
Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein’s 1-year-old son, Elijah James, went viral after the game after sleeping on his father’s shoulder during the trophy presentation.
Durant broke his brief, 48-hour social media break with the following postgame reaction: “Lil Hartenstein is slumped, congrats Okc.”
The Thunder’s historic title had to feel good for Durant, who earned NBA rookie of the year honors in Seattle during the 2007 season before the franchise move to OKC. A four-time NBA scoring champion, all of Durant’s best seasons as an individual talent at the offensive end came with the Thunder, including his career-bet 32 points per game explosion during the 2013-14 campaign.
Durant leaving OKC for Golden State was not applauded by the masses considering the Warriors already had several superstars on their roster, including Stephen Curry. He was designated as a ring-chaser, much like LeBron James’ decision to leave Cleveland for Miami initially, and nearly three-peated at his next stop.
“In OKC, I played with a lot of athletes. I didn’t play with a lot of skill guys, not like shooters (and) ball-handlers,” Durant said while appearing on the “All the Smoke” podcast. “So after a while, my game started to grow and I was like, ‘I need a change.’ This was before the (2015-16) season even started. I was tired of being the only guy who could make threes, make jump shots, and consistently make them.”
Ironically, Durant played in OKC with stars Russell Westbrook and James Harden, a “ball-handler” and “shooter” who rank among the NBA’s all-time greats.
Now, Durant’s task as a 37-year-old veteran is helping the Rockets become a factor while OKC is setting itself up to become the NBA’s next dynasty with reigning league and Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander here for the long haul.
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