NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 27: Kevin Durant #7 of the Brooklyn Nets speaks to media during Brooklyn Nets Media Day at HSS Training Center on September 27, 2019 in the Brooklyn Borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)
Kevin Durant is officially a New Yorker and the New Brooklyn Nets small forward celebrated it in style Saturday night in Manhattan.
Durant turns 31 today and below is a photo of him preparing to blow out candles as friends and well-wishers sing happy birthday to him.
Many thought that Durant would join the New York Knicks in free agency this summer.
He was surely the team’s primary target in free agency and it was believed that he and Irving were a packaged deal.
Durant had many ties to the organization. His business partner, Rich Kleiman, the co-founder and partner in Durant’s The Durant Company and Thirty Five Media, grew up a huge Knicks fan.
Durant also mentored Knicks forward, a Seattle, Washington native, when Triier was in high school and Durant was a member of the Seattle Sonics before they moved to Oklahoma and became the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Knicks assistant coach, Royal Ivey and Durant are best friends. A Harlem native, the two were Texas Longhorns teammates in college and were Oklahoma City Thunder teammates for three years in the NBA.
KD is also the godfather of Ivey’s daughter, Lyric Ella.
Durant and DeAndre Jordan are also close friends. They won Olympic gold medals. Now the two are also members of the Brooklyn Nets.
Kyrie Irving, a native of West Orange, New Jersey, grew up a Nets fan and is Durant’s teammate in Brooklyn.
Durant is excited to be a member of the Nets and sees the talent that the team has. “It was easy to see what these guys brought to the table,” Durant said at Nets media day this when asked why he chose the Nets over other teams.
“It’s not like I had to do any deep analysis on any player,
“I thought about it for a couple seconds, how my life would look in all those [other] places, and ultimately I wanted to be here.”
During the summer, Vegas favored the Brooklyn Nets as the favorite to nab both Durant and Irving.
Kyrie Irving’s Nets, NY Ties Could Affect Free Agency Decision – t.co/iAQYCqLHi5
“Maybe his heart is out of Golden State,” NBA writer, Steve Kyler told me on the Scoop B Radio Podcast a bit before June and July’s NBA summer free agency frenzy.
Kevin Durant remains out with a ruptured Achilles tendon. It is believed that he will sit out during the season and the NBA Playoffs.
NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal tells me he likes what the Nets are doing. “Jay-Z gave them a little steam when he said he was the owner,” Shaq told Scoop B Radio.
“He’s going to be there with KD so they should make a lot of noise. Only unfortunate part for the first time in New York history the Knicks aren’t the important team. That’s kind of funny to me.”