In Kevin Durant’s return to Brooklyn, his video tribute was perfunctory. But his performance was pretty much perfect KD.
From the cheeky shoulder bump and “too small sign” to protégé Cam Thomas to the dominant scoring. The back-and-forth trash talk with fans to the warm hug from Nets general manager Sean Marks in a quiet corner of Barclays Center.
It was obvious before, during and after the Nets’ 136-120 loss to Durant and the Suns that they miss him. Not just the player, but the person. And the persona.
“This crowd knows, you talk to me I’ll talk back,” Durant said. “It gets me hype too, in the game as well, if I hit a shot I can talk a little sh– on the way back. So I feel like this crowd in Brooklyn understands me more than probably any crowd in the league.”
Durant, who forced a trade almost a year ago following 3 ½ ultimately disappointing campaigns here, got applause from the sellout crowd of 17,732 during his tribute before tipoff. Then the game started, and he turned the cheers to boos. And eventually silence, music to his highly-competitive ears.
The former MVP had a game-high 33 points on 10-of-16 shooting, with eight assists and five rebounds. He had 10 in the 24-6 third-quarter run that broke a tie and eventually broke the Nets. And shut down the fans.
“Just what Kevin does,” Thomas said.
“I love to shut the crowd up. Even though I love these people here, I love to shut them up,” said Durant, who had twice as many trade demands here as playoff series wins. “There were some annoying people just trying to get my attention. ‘I hate you KD!’ But I look over, ‘I love you, man!’ They’ve got my jersey on.
“It’s all good for the game and the relationship you’ve got with the crowd. … It’s always fun playing in New York. They appreciate great ball.”
Some of those fans in the stands held up GOAT signs. Many had on Durant jerseys.
One was his mother, Wanda, who made it a point to be here for his return. After the disgusting bile and invectives thrown at Durant during his return to Oklahoma City, she was understandably protective.
Turns out there was no need. It may not have been the outpouring of love Durant got from Golden State — understandable considering he won two Finals MVPs — but it was certainly warm before and after tipoff.
There was little rancor, despite Durant’s trade request. Likely because of their Big 3 it was James Harden that forced his way out first, then Kyrie Irving that demanded a trade last February while Durant was injured. He was just the last man out the door that turned off the lights on their title hopes.
It wasn’t lost on Durant that his new Big 3 — with Devin Booker and Bradley Beal — logged their 17th game together Wednesday. That’s one more than Brooklyn’s trio had together in their entire tenure.
“That’s context for why we were a ‘failure,’ right?” Durant said of their lack of success in Brooklyn.
Still, he insists he won’t play the “what if” game.
“No. That’s just a pointless exercise to think about what could’ve been. What happened? That’s what I thought about. … We didn’t have enough time together,” he said. “That’s just it.
“Guys had to go their separate ways. We tried our hardest to salvage everything and bring everything together. … But at the end of the day, I enjoyed coming to work, being a part of this community and playing and representing Brooklyn. Regardless of what went on or was said or how I felt, I still came to work.
“[I reminisce about] the work we put in every day, through the adversity, through the noise, the relationships being built with my teammates and coaching staff. … And just New York City in general. I absolutely loved living here. I hated it before coming in as a visitor, but once you move here you just build your love up for the city and understand the city even more. So, I had a great time here.”
He admits he still misses Brooklyn. And it was obvious Brooklyn — starless in his absence — still misses him, both the player and the persona.
