Warriors Legend backs Kevin Durant’s unusual request

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Kevin Durant celebrates a play during the Golden State Warriors game.

Kevin Durant wants to one day see the Golden State Warriors hang his jersey from the rafters, and a player whose jersey has been hung there agrees with him.

Durant said this week that he believes both of his former teams, the Warriors and the Oklahoma City Thunder, should withdraw his number after he retires.

“OKC has to retire my jersey. It wouldn’t even be good for the game of basketball if they didn’t,” Durant told The Ringer’s Logan Murdock. “Similar to the Golden State.”

This claim has been met with some criticism from Warriors fans, especially since Durant only spent three seasons with Golden State and left on less friendly terms. But one of the greatest players in Golden State history is now backing the claim, saying it makes sense for the team to retire Durant’s shirt number.

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Durant makes his case

Durant explained to Murdock that every stop in his NBA career feels special to him and hopes every team feels the same way about him. The former league MVP said he hopes that when he enters the Hall of Fame, his jersey will also lift the ranks in Oklahoma City and Golden State.

“Every place I play is my home,” says Durant. “I can picture me when I’m done, and I don’t think any of these franchises will be like, ‘No, K, what you’ve done here is not a piece of history. ours.’ I’ll be a Hall of Famer when I’m done, one of the best games ever played. If you don’t want me on your show when I’m done playing, that’s personal. ”

Durant is certainly part of Golden State’s history, having won two titles in three seasons there. Although he was never able to win the title with the Thunder, he did win an MVP there in 2014.

Durant Monetization Support

Warriors legend Chris Mullin was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and retired the Warriors his jersey in 2012, and believes Durant deserves the same treatment. Appearing on “Warriors Pregame Live” on April 2, Mullin told host Bonta Hill that he agreed to Durant’s request that the team honor him.

“100%,” Mullin said. “And there are different levels of fulfillment. Kevin Durant’s tenure here with the Golden State Warriors is three NBA Finals [appearances], two MVPs of the Finals and as you said Bonta he went out there and sacrificed his body trying to win his third championship in a row. He is a unique player as we have seen in basketball history. But this generation, LeBron, Steph, they’re setting all-time records. LeBron will overtake Kareem Abdul-Jabaar [for most points in NBA history]. ”

Although Durant has received some criticism for his decision to leave the Warriors and join the Brooklyn Nets, he has denied claims that he has given up on the team. As Stephen A. Smith of ESPN said above Today’s NBA that his decision to leave Steph Curry and join the Nets could be part of his defining legacy, Durant took to Twitter to post a one-word reply: “It sucks.”

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