Kevin Durant’s free agency ultimately came down to three teams: the incumbent Oklahoma City Thunder, the eventual winning Golden State Warriors, and the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics were perhaps closer than most expected and KD’s decision to spurn them led to a lot of bad blood. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr wants that to continue as his team gets ready to face the C’s on Friday night (on ESPN).
Following via Darren Hartwell of NESN:
“I haven’t given it a lot of thought, but I know that the Celtics were one of the teams that were right in there with KD and had a real chance,” Kerr said Friday morning during the Warriors’ shoot-around at TD Garden. “So, maybe the fans will shower him with boos and motivate him. That would be great.”
Durant, meanwhile, said he was not worried about the fan reaction:
“I expect them to cheer for their team like they always do,” Durant said. “Outside of that, I don’t know. I’m just trying to lock in and focus on our team and our game. The fans are going to be the fans. They’re going to enjoy the game, and as the game goes along, they’re going to boo, they’re going to cheer. It is what it is.”
This should be a fun game for multiple reasons. Both teams signed one of the best free agents available in Kevin Durant and Al Horford. The two teams played close games last season. And the Boston crowd is not very nice to players they don’t like.
