The 2016-2017 NBA schedule has not yet been officially released, but the one game everyone has been waiting to find out about is Kevin Durant’s return to Oklahoma City as a member of the Golden State Warriors.
ESPN’s Marc Stein tweeted Monday that the much-anticipated first matchup in OKC between KD’s Warriors and his former team will take place on Saturday, February 11.
Story going online now: League sources say Oklahoma City is tentatively scheduled to play host to Kevin Durant for the first time on Feb. 11
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) August 8, 2016
Presumably, the game will be given a marquee billing and feature on ESPN/ABC’s new Saturday night primetime schedule of games, which began this past season. Durant will surely be met with mixed reactions from Thunder fans, as the star forward played eight seasons in Oklahoma before leaving this offseason to come to the Bay Area. It will be interesting to see whether time will heal some of OKC’s wounds and the crowd will applaud Durant for his efforts while with the Thunder or boo him for the perceived slight of leaving as a free agent. We’d bet on a mixture of both, with a heavy dose of the latter.
Per @ESPNSteinLine, Thunder-Warriors Part 1 will take place in Oakland on November 3rd. Second week of the season.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) August 8, 2016