OAKLAND–Kevin Durant spent his whole career waiting.
So even though his potential game-winning shot was waved off Tuesday evening, it couldn’t take all of the shine away from the brand new NBA Championship ring that he was presented with before the Warriors’ season-opener.
“We definitely would have loved to win, but what happened before the game was very, very special and I don’t think anything can take away from that,” Durant said. “We would have loved to have win the game, but that was a special moment.”
After spending the first nine seasons of his career with the same franchise, Durant bolted from Oklahoma City last offseason in hopes of capturing his first NBA title.
Less than 12 months after Durant signed with Golden State, he was named the 2017 NBA Finals MVP after leading his team to a 4-1 series victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. But alas, Tuesday signaled the start of a new season, and on Tuesday, Durant’s last-ditch effort against the Rockets wasn’t enough to propel the Warriors to a win.
A would-be buzzer-beater rolled off Durant’s finger tips less than a second after the final horn sounded, and for the second straight season, Golden State fell to 0-1.
“I thought it had a chance, but I knew it was a little late,” Durant said. “I knew it was cutting it close, but you have to give Shaun Livingston credit for tipping the basketball out and just giving us a chance. But you have to give credit to Houston, man, they hit big shots. They played well tonight and a tough loss, a tough loss. But it’s the first game of 82. We have to move on and we definitely have to get better.”