OKLAHOMA CITY — Kevin Durant’s mother said she was deeply hurt by the treatment she and her son received in his return to the city he played his first eight seasons with Saturday night.
“The most vicious things you could say, they said about my son tonight. It’s hurtful,” Wanda Durant told ESPN after the Golden State Warriors 130-114 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“We poured our heart into this place. Not just him. Our family. This is basketball. This is not whether or not you’re going to make it into heaven.”
Wanda Durant sat in the stands behind the Warriors bench for the game. She said several fans approached her and said obscene things about her son, to her.
“They called him a snake, a sellout, a b—-h,” she said. “It’s just a sad day. I understand that they loved him. I do understand it. But the name calling. The people with the cupcakes on their backs … It didn’t have to be like this.”
After the game, she had tears in her eyes after hugging her son outside the Warriors locker room.
“This is not the first time I’ve been back since Kevin left,” she said. “This is maybe my fourth or fifth time. Every time that I’ve been back, people seem like they are afraid to say something nice to me. People will whisper, “There’s his mom. Ooooooh!”
There are people who tell me they still love him. But then you have the people who shot his jersey up. My son poured his heart and soul into this place for eight years and for them to treat him like this because he decided to go someplace else to play is really tough.”
ESPN’s Chris Haynes reported that the Warriors arranged for additional security for Wanda Durant at Saturday’s game.
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