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For a night, Kevin Durant will return to Oklahoma City as one of its own.
On March 20, as the Thunder host the Raptors, Durant will reportedly attend the jersey retirement ceremony for forward Nick Collison, who spent all 14 years of his NBA career with the Thunder/Sonics organization. Collison helped acclimate Durant to the NBA, which included moving to Oklahoma City after a one-year stint in Seattle to start Durant’s career.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the news of Durant planning to attend the Raptors matchup, which will be televised on ESPN.
Kevin Durant is planning March 20 return to OKC for jersey retirement ceremony for Nick Collison. Durant tells ESPN: "It's about time for us to let go of all that extra stuff, and just come together – especially around this time, because it's Nick." Story: https://t.co/WwwOm0gqNr
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 27, 2019
This appears to be one of Durant’s attempts at reconciliation, facilitated around celebrating a beloved member of the organization that raised a band of young stars, forming one of the league’s best teams earlier this decade.
“That group was so special, that whole group from 2010 until I left there, it was special,” Durant told ESPN. “It’s about time for us to let go of all that extra stuff and just come together, especially around this time because it’s Nick.”
According to Wojnarowski, “there’s no interest on either side for a basketball reconciliation.” Durant famously left the Thunder organization, which drafted him No. 2 overall in 2008, after nine seasons and no championships to join the NBA’s indomitable titan. In his two full seasons since joining the Warriors, Durant has enjoyed two NBA championships and two NBA Finals MVP awards.
His departure from Oklahoma City brought about national scorn, with many criticizing Durant for joining the team that beat him in his final series with the Thunder (2016 Western Conference Finals). Even though tensions have seemingly eased a bit with time, Durant has not publicly reconciled with many of his former teammates, most notably Russell Westbrook.
Collison’s retirement ceremony could be the first major step toward doing that.