Kevin Durant returned to Seattle, but only long enough to score 63 points and play almost 51 minutes of a game.
On Sunday, Durant took part in the Jamal Crawford Summer Pro-Am game, as part of a league set up to give the City of Seattle a basketball team.
The Washington city has not had an NBA franchise since 2008, when their SuperSonics team moved to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder. This is also the last time that Durant has been to Seattle.
“I just want to say I miss you guys,” Durant said to the Seattle audience. “Thank you for the warm welcome. I can’t wait to come back.”
The game took place in the gym of Seattle Pacific University, but that did not stop Durant from coming and fully participating in the game. Even Crawford mentioned how much it meant to Durant to come back to the city that saw him win Rookie of the Year in 2008-2009.
“He reached out to me to come perform before in front of you guys,” Crawford said. “He loves Seattle. …He spent a lot of money to come up here and perform in front of you guys.”
Despite his 63 points, Durant only made 26 of his 62 shots and went 8-32 from the three-point line. His team ended up losing to Crawford’s team 141-147 after forcing an overtime.
However, this didn’t matter to Will Conroy, a Seattle native that has played in the D-League and NBA. He was just glad that the superstar was back in Seattle where he began his career.
“Seattle feels like he was stolen from us…so for us to get to see him up close and personal again; it was special for me to get to play with him,” Conroy said.
Related articles
- Kevin Durant scores 63 points in Seattle pro-am (USA Today)
- Video: Spencer Hawes Scored 58 Points At Jamal Crawford Pro-Am (CBS Philly)
- Kevin Durant, Jeff Green scheduled to play in Jamal Crawford’s Pro-Am league in Seattle (probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com)
- Kevin Durant gets engaged to WNBA’s Monica Wright (usatoday.com/sports)
Video Credit: Ballislife.com
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