Golden State Warriors

Thunder fans boo Kevin Durant during intros, KD makes first shot anyway

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 8:01 p.m. ET

Fansided, Gerald Bourguet/Fansided

Kevin Durant was booed relentlessly during starting intros of his first game back in OKC, but he silenced the Thunder fans by draining his first shot.

In Kevin Durant’s first game back in Oklahoma City since joining the Golden State Warriors, no one should be surprised the former MVP was booed relentlessly by Thunder fans.

What remained a mystery heading into Saturday’s highly anticipated homecoming, however, was how Durant would respond to a hostile environment that once loved him as the city’s own.

Hundreds of Thunder fans turned up before the game, sporting signs, T-shirts and even cupcake costumes to troll Durant. They booed him during pregame warmups, and when he was announced during the Warriors’ starting intros, the boos rained down again with no hesitation.

a very unwarm welcome for Kevin Durant pic.twitter.com/Ux4j89QtXS

— Tim Cato (@tim_cato) February 12, 2017

Just listen to that resounding chorus of boos! With so much hostility and anger in the air, it would’ve only been natural for anyone — even a perennial All-Star like KD — to want to curl up in a ball until the game was over.

However, Kevin Durant didn’t look deterred at the start of the game, calmly catching a pass off a screen and draining a jumper from the top of the key just inside the paint — as he had done so many times during his days wearing a Thunder jersey:

Durant trying to quiet the boos pic.twitter.com/8kEGnT5oOA

— BBALLBREAKDOWN (@bballbreakdown) February 12, 2017

With adrenaline pumping through everyone’s veins, the first quarter of action between the Thunder and Warriors was not exactly pretty. Though KD nailed his first shot, he finished the quarter with four points on 2-of-8 shooting.

His former superstar teammate, Russell Westbrook, had five points, six rebounds and three assists, but only shot 2-for-7 from the field and committed five turnovers before taking a seat for a quick breather. After leading by as many as seven, OKC trailed by six heading into the second quarter.