Kevin Durant on Warriors-Nets Opener: 'It's No More Important to Me' Than Any Other Game

Nets star Kevin Durant said that he will not have any added emotions when he faces his former team, the Golden State Warriors, in Brooklyn's season opener on Tuesday.

"I feel like each game is important to me," Durant told reporters. "And it's no more important to me because I am playing against my old teammates. I just feel like the game of basketball is going to have me on that level anyway. And it's going to be good to see some of my old teammates, good to see some of the people I worked with during my time in Golden State. Nothing more than that, the game of basketball is always going to have me on that level of wanting to play extremely hard every time I’m out there.”

Durant played with the Warriors from 2016-2019, and will be making his first return to regular season action on Tuesday after previously rupturing his right Achilles in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals while still with Golden State. He re-emphasized on Monday that he does not put any blame on his old team for trotting him out in the middle of the series after dealing with a right calf injury in the weeks leading up to the eventual tear.

“Injuries happen in this league," Durant said. “I had a tough one. But I wouldn’t blame that on anybody.”

The 32-year-old Durant made the Finals in each of his three years with Golden State. However, in July of 2019, he signed with the Nets in free agency. 

Durant appeared in two games this preseason with the Nets. He averaged 20 points and 4.5 rebounds in more than 25 minutes of action per contest. 

"It's going to take me more than two or three games to feel like I'm in the swing of things," Durant said on Monday. "So I'm looking forward to exercising my mind and my body when I got there."

Tipoff for Tuesday's season opener is set for 7 p.m. ET.