Kevin Durant found Wizards' open free-agent courting 'disrespectful'
Kevin Durant didn't like how the Wizards tried to recruit him during a game last season. He wants Wizards fans to show love for their own "great team."
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2 min read
Hoping to land Kevin Durant next summer, the Washington Wizards decided to not sign Bradley Beal to a long-term extension. By delaying Beal's extension, the Wizards can have enough salary cap space to sign Durant and then also be able to re-sign their young guard.
With Durant hailing from the Maryland DMV area, the Wizards have been planning on wooing the Thunder forward home next summer for quite some time. Even last season, when the Thunder took on the Wizards in the nation's capital, a photo-shopped image of Durant in a Washington jersey appeared on the Verizon center's jumbotron. This was something the Wizards actually did!
Durant felt a bit weirded out by the whole experience, mainly because the Wizards and their fans didn't seem to be supporting their own team, which has talented players like Beal and John Wall.
From Michael Lee of Yahoo Sports:
"It was crazy. It was crazy," Durant said. "It was kind of disrespectful, in my opinion, because you've got a great team there already, that deserves your full, 100 percent support. And I wouldn't like that if I was on that team. And I didn't like that. But it comes with it nowadays. It's a part of it.
"I'm really not good with attention," he said. "I really don't like all this stuff to be centered around me. It comes with it, it's a part of it, but I'm still getting used to it. I learned to embrace it a little bit more, but it's still a little awkward for me."
You can't blame the Wizards for pulling out all of the stops to try and lure Durant. He is one of the top players in the NBA and could instantly make the Wizards a championship contender.
Even Wizards' guard Bradley Beal had to side with Durant on this one. While nobody would deny wanting Durant to join their team, there is still a respect involved with knowing your opponent is your opponent until they eventually join your team. Beal agreed that it was disrespectful because he doesn't play for the Wizards.
Bradley Beal on the response to KD in DC: "It is disrespectful. He plays for Oklahoma City, not Washington."
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 9, 2015
But after hearing his comments, maybe the Wizards will play it a bit more low key when the Thunder play Washington on Tuesday night. Best not to upset Durant months before you can actually talk to him about free agency.
