NBA fans had plenty of criticism for the Warriors retiring Kevin Durant's number
When Kevin Durant elected to leave the Golden State Warriors for the Brooklyn Nets, it opened up more speculation about what went down behind the scenes in the build-up to Durant’s Achilles injury.
Would we hear more details now that he’s away from Golden State? Would he take the high road, recover and just move on?
The Warriors’ latest gesture, though, doesn’t exactly help the optics of the situation.
In a statement released on Monday from Warriors owner and CEO Joe Lacob, he announced that no player would wear the No. 35 as long as he was chairman of the Warriors. He effectively retired Durant’s number — but not officially? — despite Durant only playing three seasons for the team.
It was an odd decision given that Durant had only played 256 games with the Warriors. And plenty of NBA fans saw this gesture as an effort to make up for failing Durant this postseason.