I was born and raised in Oklahoma. I was also raised a sports fan. Being a child of the late 1980s, football has always been king in Oklahoma. I grew up a University of Oklahoma football fan, received my Bachelor's degree there and was even a member of their marching band for four years. Needless to say, I LOVE OU football. I went to a rather large high school and it was almost a 50/50 split between kids that went to OU or Oklahoma State. There was (and still is) always a great surge of trash talk on my Facebook timeline in late November. So, in terms of sports fans, most of the people I grew up with cheering for college football, some maybe dabbled in baseball (lifelong Cubs fan here who is REALLY excited about this season), some in professional football, but I can never remember anyone caring about the NBA. Yes, there were some, but the majority seemed to like Michael Jordan because he is Michael Jordan, and that was about as far as that went. That is, until 2008.
In 2008, much to the chagrin of what felt like the entire Pacific Northwest, the Seattle Supersonics NBA franchise moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Here was a team we could all finally unite around. These guys were young, played with tons of energy and heart, and were led by one of the young superstars in the game, Kevin Durant. If you recall from paragraph number one, I am a gigantic OU fan. I talked about football up there, but I should emphatically state that I cheer for all things OU. Baseball, softball, gymnastics AND basketball. If you didn't know this already, Kevin Durant went to the University of Texas. We don't like them and they don't like us. Kevin Durant DOES NOT like OU. It takes a lot to get me to outwardly show my love for a player that dislikes OU...but Kevin Durant did it. Not only by being a phenomenal basketball player, winning an MVP, or representing the city and state with class, he did it by working with the youth in the community, showing up to help when Moore, OK (a suburb of OKC) was devastated by a tornado, and donating money to their relief fund. He always spoke about how great the fans in Oklahoma City are, how they encourage them to be better. In the past he has used social media to say that players should be more loyal to their teams as opposed to going where there is extra money or championships. I had so much respect and admiration for him for doing all of these things.
And now he is leaving.
He is leaving to join the team that just beat his team in the western conference finals. A team that already has superstars. A team that has the winner of the last two MVP awards. A team that won the title last year.
There are so many...SO SO SO many people that are burning his jersey, saying that he's a hypocrite, bashing his name and calling him a coward. Did they forget? Did they forget all that he did for OKC in the past 8 years? Maybe he wants to live in the bay as opposed to central Oklahoma. Maybe he wants a different atmosphere. Maybe he thinks he has a better chance of winning there. Maybe he's right.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a little hurt or lied to. However, I'm not so naive to ignore the fact that it is HIS choice. Did he love playing for the city? I am 100% sure he did. Do I think he could have eventually won a title in OKC? Probably? Who knows.
What I know is that he's human, he's allowed to do what HE THINKS is best for him, and I will forever be grateful for the things he did to put not only Oklahoma City, but the whole state of Oklahoma, on the map. Now? Now, I can go back to cheering against a Texas Longhorn, and hope that Russ averages a triple double next year.
Cheers KD.