Kevin Durant's Mother Comments on Star's Loyalty to Thunder, Future
Free agency is looming for Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant. After nine years with the organization, Durant is set to hit the market on July 1, and everyone is looking for clues as to where he might be headed for the 2016-17 season.
And that includes his mother.
On Tuesday, Durant's mother, Wanda Pratt, visited NBC4 in Washington, D.C., and spoke about the next few months her son will face (via Ben Standig of CSN Mid-Atlantic).
"They're 1-1 [in the series]. He really focuses on his task at hand," Pratt said. "He's very loyal to the Thunder, so he felt it would be unjust to focus on other things while playing in the playoffs."
But she, like everyone else, doesn't know what his decision will be come free-agency time:
"Where he's going to end playing has still not been decided by him. He's still playing in the playoffs as everyone knows. I don't know [his plans] so don't say Mama Durant said [he's coming to Washington] because I didn't say that. He's focused on the playoffs right now and he's pretty loyal to the Thunder with regards to that. When the time comes, he'll make a decision best for him.
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A Washington, D.C., native, Durant has been the apple of the Washington Wizards' eye for the past year. The team put the Thunder star in a Wizards jersey on the Jumbotron during a game in November. It was a move Durant called "kind of disrespectful," per The Vertical's Michael Lee.
According to The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski, though, when speaking with the Big Lead's Jason McIntyre on his Fox Sports radio show in February:
"[Durant] wants to win a championship. ... If Kevin Durant leaves Oklahoma—if he leaves—he wants to be ready to win a championship right away. He’s at a point in his career [where] he can’t wait [two to three] years or wait for a team to build or hope that it happens."
The Wizards aren't that kind of team after finishing the 2015-16 season 41-41 and in 10th place in the Eastern Conference.
The Golden State Warriors could be in the running for Durant's signature, though, as Wojnarowski described the defending champions as "the team that is worrisome for Oklahoma City. That’s the team that has Kevin Durant’s attention."
But like his mother said, Durant is focused on getting the Thunder out of their first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks and winning a championship before he hits free agency.
That's going to be difficult, given the power of the Western Conference with the Warriors and San Antonio Spurs. But the next few weeks could be vital in helping Durant decide where he'll play next year.
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.
