Warriors Reveal Plans to Honor Kevin Durant on Opening Night

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While it's been four years since Kevin Durant left the Golden State Warriors to join the Brooklyn Nets, the superstar forward has still not played in front of his former fanbase. With the pandemic keeping fans out of arenas for a portion of that time, and Durant dealing with several different injuries, he hasn't had an opportunity to receive a proper welcome back from the organization he won two Finals MVP trophies with.
With the Warriors set to host the Phoenix Suns on opening night of the 2023-24 NBA season, newly appointed general manager Mike Dunleavy revealed that the team plans to appropriately honor Durant on that night.
"I think the combo of him returning and us opening against a formidable opponent should make the building pretty electric," Dunleavy said during an appearance on 95.7 The Game. "We gotta figure out a way to appropriately honor Kevin. He hasn't actually played in Chase Center since departing. I know it's been a while, but anytime great players like that who have given up so much to the franchise come back, you gotta figure out a way to honor them. We’ll do that appropriately."
Durant will always be a major part of Warriors history, as the superstar forward won back-to-back Finals MVP awards in 2017 and 2018, while also helping Golden State reach the Finals again in 2019 before going down with an injury against the Toronto Raptors.
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Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA and WNBA for On SI. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined On SI to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts and in the classroom earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time, primarily serving as a Clippers beat writer.
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