Tuesday night, Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder travel to our nation’s capital to take on the Washington Wizards — and for many Wizards’ fans the game is almost secondary.
Ever since LeBron James chose to go back home to Cleveland, there has been hype in D.C. that Durant would choose to come back to his hometown Wizards when he becomes a free agent next summer. The Wizards have cleared out cap space to make sure it’s a possibility. Durant’s free agency next summer is the story of the NBA season, but the hype and expectations are approaching unreasonable levels in D.C.
Durant hates that.
And he hates how his trip to Washington was treated last year (where the focus was on him coming as a free agent, not the game). He doesn’t like how free agency is its own season, he told Sam Amick of the USA Today.“(The Jan. 22 visit last season) was kind of disrespectful, in my opinion, because you’ve got a great team there already that deserves your full 100% support,” said Durant, who – among many other things – was featured on the Wizards’ jumbotron wearing a ‘Washington’ jersey during the game. “I wouldn’t like that if I was on that team. I didn’t like that, but it comes with it nowadays.
“Free agency is like a season now, and it shouldn’t be that big. Me, I feel, is you should focus on who you have on your team. It’s easy to get your hopes up, and expect a guy to come to your team or whatever – and I’m not talking about myself, I’m just talking about free agency in the past years and in the future – you get your hopes up as a fan, and then they let you down and you end up not liking the player. There’s a little bit too much emphasis on that type of stuff, but it’s part of the game.”
Durant is howling at the moon here, but I understand his frustration.
Kevin Durant doesn’t know what Kevin Durant is going to do next summer, but the smart money is with him staying in OKC. For one, as good as John Wall and Bradley Beal are (and they can be special), they are not as good as Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka. Sure, the Wizards have the easier path to the Finals through the East, but if KD wants to play with the most talented team, then he stays put (and that may be the best chance to make the Finals again).
One other note: Not every player wants to go home. There are more distractions, more people angling for time, and more pressure to win. That’s not for everyone.
We’ll have to see if it’s worth it to Durant.