Kevin Durant is a traitor.
The NBA season started on Oct. 25 and while many fans are excited for this season, I am not.
Durant, once the beloved small forward for the Oklahoma City Thunder, has since left Oklahoma City to join the already stacked Golden State Warriors. Golden State is currently coming off of a record setting 73-9 season and won the NBA championship in June of 2015.
Durant, who was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics before they moved to Oklahoma City, had played his entire career for the organization. Durant had a successful career in Oklahoma City, leading the Thunder to the NBA finals in 2012, and being named league MVP in 2014.
Last season, in the Western Conference Finals, Durant’s Thunder lead the Warriors 3 games to 1 only to lose the final three games and eventually the series to Golden State. Durant, who’s contract with Oklahoma City had come to an end, opted to abandon the team and city that had loved him to join the very team that just beat him.
Durant followed the old motto of if you can’t beat them, join them. Many fans, like myself, believe that rather than staying loyal to the city that made him their hero, he instead chose the easy way out and joined an already stacked “super team.”
Loyalty is something that means a lot to fans and their teams. Loyalty is what kept Tim Duncan on the San Antonio Spurs for 19 years, and Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles for 18. To see Durant, one of the most talented players in the world, show no loyalty to those who were loyal to him; it’s disheartening.
Perhaps Durant is just a symbol of the times. Maybe he’ll ride the coattails of Golden State to his first championship. But at least this fan won’t be watching.
