Kevin Durant: It's Cool, We Can Still be Friends

As I drove home to Massachusetts to visit my family for Easter, I found myself with a dying IPod battery and plenty of time to reflect on life. And by life I mean the two things that are constantly on my mind: women and the Boston Celtics (and not always in that order).

I know what you’re thinking: "There’s no way Andrew's going to try to write a cheesy article loosely linking his relationships with women to the trials and tribulations of his favorite sports franchise." 

That, my friends, is where you’re wrong.

The following is my attempt to explain the complex relationship between Kevin Durant and this diehard Boston Celtics fan.

A year ago, the Boston Celtics were in the midst of one of the worst seasons in Boston sports history after crawling out of a franchise-worst 18-game losing streak. The C’s faced unbelievable injury problems, a seriously waning fan base, and—worst of all—virtual obscurity. The 2006-2007 Boston Celtics finished as the second worst team in the NBA with just 24 wins.

There was a light at the end of the tunnel though: a 6-9 college freshman (soon to become the National College Player of the Year) with an absurd wingspan and a truly sleek skill-set that comes along maybe once in a generation.

This young man's name was known by every member of Celtic Nation. Kevin Durant was the hope we had longed for since Bird retired, Reggie Lewis left us all too early, we were teased by Tim Duncan in the NBA Draft Lottery, and Len Bias nearly took every Celtics fan's mental well-being with him.

Somehow, some way, Durant would be ours!

While the rest of the country argued over who was better—Durant or the equally dominant college freshman, Greg Oden—some Boston fans began to do something that had never been seen in the Beantown sports scene: They rooted against their team.

Tragedy and fading memories of glory days will do crazy things to sports fans. In the words of Rick James: "Cocaine’s a hell of a drug."

May 22, 2007–"A Day That Shall Live In Infamy"

Did the Sporting News cover with Tim Duncan in Celtics green that came out the week before the draft jinx us? Was it the Sports Guy's horrible decision to watch "Déjà vu" the night of the draft lottery that was exactly 10 years after the Duncan tragedy?

Maybe it was the basketball gods dishing out a dose of karma to a loyal fan base that had done the unthinkable and pined for their team to lose games down the stretch.

Whatever the reason, Boston dropped to the fifth spot in the 2007 NBA Draft, and Celtics fans were left with that horrible gut-wrenching "not again" feeling. What happened next was this fan’s worst nightmare.

Rumors that Pierce wants out, having to read half-assed sports columns suggesting that the Celtics aren't half-bad if Gerald Green can mature and develop his mental game (yes, the same Gerald Green who is currently not on an NBA roster less than a year later), and waiting over a month to see what (nearly) useless consolation prize the team would pick up.

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