Kevin Durant is enjoying a professional homecoming of sorts this week with the Golden State Warriors in Seattle for an exhibition game on Friday night against the Sacramento Kings at KeyArena.
Durant of course spent his rookie NBA season in the Emerald City after the SuperSonics selected him with the second overall pick in the 2007 draft. The franchise moved on to Oklahoma City the next season, rebranded as the Thunder, and the rest is history.
To commemorate his one season as a Sonic as well as demonstrate his affinity for Seattle and the city’s basketball fans, Durant will wear a special Sonics colorway of his Nike KD11 sneakers in Friday’s game. The Warriors superstar debuted the kicks at Thursday’s practice.
Durant has long touted Seattle as a great basketball town and continued to do so this week when stating unequivocally that the city “most definitely” deserves to be awarded an NBA franchise.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, while noting that Stephen Curry and Draymond Green won’t play in Friday’s exhibition, pointed out that the night is “is about Kevin and the Sonics,” per The Athletic’s Anthony Slater.
Friday’s preseason game marks the first time an NBA game — exhibition or otherwise — has been played in Seattle in over 10 years.
“We worked three years to bring the Warriors there and I can tell you KD is incredibly excited. I think he may have a couple tricks up his sleeve, actually, while we’re up there,” Kerr said this week, via Sonics Rising . “We sold out the game in 4 hours. Seattle is dying to welcome an NBA game back and to welcome Kevin Durant who won his Rookie of the Year award when he was a Seattle Sonic.”
It goes without saying that Durant has equal parts nostalgia and excitement heading into Friday night, even if it is just a preseason game. The shoes really put an exclamation point on the notion.
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