Wednesday night, Kevin Durant made his first return to the Barclays Center since being traded from the Brooklyn Nets to the Phoenix Suns last season.
Coming into the game, many were questioning if the star would receive some sort of tribute to commemerate his time spent in the borough, something Durant, himself, publicly stated he was not in favor of.
Much to his dismay, a remembrance montage was, in fact, played during the starting lineups announcements, a moment that was met with a considerable amount of applause from those in attendance.
Following the contest, Durant was asked in an on-court interview what his thoughts were on the video, to which he responded with glowing remarks about his four-year tenure with the Nets.
Kevin Durant shares thoughts on Nets tribute video
"I had some great moments here, a lot of stuff that flew under the radar, but everybody in this organization and my teammates we understood what the moment was like. I'm always going to remember playing here."Kevin Durant
Durant would follow this up during his postgame press conference by saying that the Nets organization is filled with "classy people" who "appreciate everybody who donned the jersey."
With authority. https://t.co/QMjPihd0HC pic.twitter.com/I7k5Yfv6nv
— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) February 1, 2024
The superstar went on to have quite a mesmerizing return game, as he logged 33 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks while shooting 62.5 percent from the floor. His efforts were so impressive, those behind me could be heard asking themselves: "Why did we let this man go?"
In the end, Durant spearheaded the charge in his team's commanding 136-120 win over the Nets, which, simultaneously, snapped their win-streak at just two games and sunk them down to 19-28 on the season.
As things currently stand, the veteran is 1-1 against Brooklyn since his departure back at last year's trade deadline.