The people around Kevin Durant have been taking their shots at the Warriors for a while, including someone today saying the franchise had been disrespecting KD the past year. Durant, for his part, decided before the season he was out, the only question was where he landed, which turned out to be Brooklyn. But he has not put the Warriors on blast.
The Warriors have taken the high road publicly (and mostly privately) through this, and that included on Friday when the franchise’s co-chairman Jacob Lacob released a statement saying Durant’s No. 35 is off-limits in his mind.
Statement from Warriors Co-Chairman & CEO Joe Lacob on Kevin Durant: pic.twitter.com/D2TPPZPuz1
— Warriors PR (@WarriorsPR) July 1, 2019
“As long as I am Co-Chairman of this team, no player will ever wear No. 35 for the Warriors again.”
Classy.
The Warriors also should do something for Andre Iguodala, who had to be shipped off to Memphis to clear the way for the sign-and-trade the Warriors did to get D’Angelo Russell back in the Durant trade. Russell gives the Warriors another All-Star in the backcourt, although the sense around the league is Golden State will trade Russell at the deadline or next summer for players that fit better with their roster.
Whoever they get will not be wearing No. 35, though.