Clay Moyle
Darn it, I missed the announcement Kevin Durant was going to be in Seattle this past Sunday to participate in a Jamal Crawford Summer Pro-Am game at the Seattle Pacific University Gym. Ironically, that was the same day my father had given my 10-year-old son a Seattle Sonics jersey with Durant’s name on it that he’d purchased from a local thrift shop.
Had I known Durant was here, I would have taken my son to the ballgame to see him play in person. Or, at least I would have tried. By all accounts the small gym was jammed to the rafters with about 3,000 fans, so I’m not entirely sure everyone who showed up to watch the ballgame was able to get inside to see it.
I could hardly believe our luck back in 2007 when the Sonics snagged the second pick in that year’s NBA draft lottery. That was the year both Durant and Greg Oden were coming out, and I hoped the Portland Trailblazers would opt to take the promising center and Durant would fall into our laps in the second spot.
Sure enough, despite reportedly being wowed by Durant’s workout for the team, the Blazers followed the traditional logic and spent their pick on the seven-footer. As a result, I figured the Sonics landed a player who would end up leading the NBA in scoring for 10 years. I crossed my fingers that adding such a promising player to the roster might lead to some kind of miracle that would keep the team in Seattle.
Unfortunately, that didn’t occur. Just prior to Durant’s rookie season here, management sent Ray Allen packing to Boston in exchange for another draft pick that brought us rookie forward Jeff Green. That trade combined with the loss of free agent Rashard Lewis meant there was no chance of that team qualifying for the playoffs and creating any kind of season like the 1995 Seattle Mariners did.
While the Sonics were fairly entertaining to watch with Durant averaging 20.3 points per game over the course of his rookie season, it became obvious by season end the team wasn’t going to be here much longer.
Of course, as most people know that season turned out to be the team’s last in Seattle when the City of Seattle voted to accept an offer of close to $30 million from the franchise owners that enabled them to escape the final two year lease of Key Arena and move the team to Oklahoma.
Just like that, a once in a lifetime basketball player who had fallen into Seattle’s laps was gone.
Make no mistake about it, had the franchise remained here, Kevin Durant would have gone on to become the greatest player in team history. Still only 24 (he’ll turn 25 in late September), Durant has averaged 26.6 points per game over his six-year career and led the NBA in scoring for three seasons from 2010 through 2012.
Durant’s 28.1 points per game average this past season placed him second behind Carmelo Anthony and his 28.7 average.
The six-foot-nine superstar won’t even enter his prime for a couple more years and will likely win many more scoring titles. However, I get the impression Durant cares more about winning games than scoring titles and will gladly share the ball if it would lead to more victories.
When you compare Durant’s first six years in the league with those of Michael Jordan you’ll learn that Jordan scored more points (14,016 with a scoring average of 32.8 per game) compared to Durant (12,258 and 26.6 per game). But keep in mind Durant has to share the ball with high scoring guard
Michael Westbrook. He also averaged five less shot attempts per game than Jordan did. Jordan was also 21 years of age when he entered the NBA, whereas Durant was only 19.
According to various reports, the place went nuts when Durant entered SPC’s Royal Brougham Pavilion this past Sunday, the crowd jumping to their feet and greeting him with a thunderous ovation that lasted several minutes as the announcer welcomed him back to Seattle.
Durant has made no attempt to hide his fondness for the city and was photographed wearing a Seattle Sonics baseball cap during the NBA playoffs this past season.
According to the Seattle Times, after receiving such a hearty welcome Durant took the microphone and said, “I’ve had a fun time here in Seattle. I miss you guys. Thank you for the warm welcome, man. I can’t wait to come back. Thank you. I appreciate it.”
Yeah, I can’t wait for him to come back either, preferably in a Seattle Sonics uniform one day. He signed a five-year contract extension with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2010 and they own his rights through the 2015-16 season. But, the way things are going it looks as though it may be at least that long before we get another NBA team, most likely via the expansion route.
In my fantasy, the Supersonics would open the 2016-17 campaign with a certain six-foot-nine free agent superstar acquisition in a Seattle uniform that was just entering the prime of his career. It could happen, or at least I’d like to think it could.
After Durant addressed the crowd, Jamal Crawford stepped forward and made sure the fans knew Kevin was the one who reached out to him and asked for the opportunity to come and play in the ballgame in Seattle, and had spent his own money to come up here and perform for them.
:He loves Seattle,” the Times reported Crawford said.
Durant, who scored 63 points, wasn’t at his best, making only 26 of a whopping 62 shot attempts, including a woeful 8 for 32 from behind the arc, but it mattered little to those who came to get a firsthand glimpse of the young superstar in action.
Hopefully, there will come a time in the not too distant future when local fans will get a chance to watch him perform in person on a regular basis. It would suit me just fine if that were to the tune of 41 regular season games per season.
