© Brad Penner | 2020 Dec 22
For the first time since 2019, Kevin Durant will share a floor with Stephen Curry in the Bay Area when the Brooklyn Nets travel to Chase Center on Saturday.
It won’t be the first time the two have met since they were teammates. That happened in the first game of the 2020-21 season, when the Warriors were blasted off the floor in Brooklyn. It also won’t be a “return” for Durant in the traditional sense. After all, the Warriors no longer play at Oracle Arena and there won’t be any fans to welcome him back.
For those reasons, Saturday will probably feel a little strange according to Curry.
“Don’t get me wrong when I say this. I don’t know how special it will be because it’s not at Oracle and there’s no fans,” Curry said after Thursday’s win over the Magic. “So it’s kinda weird, just that whole vibe. We’ve got a tribute video which he obviously deserves and hopefully it’ll be a moment that he’ll appreciate, but outside of that it’s kind of weird to be honest, with all the things that have changed since ’18-19.”
Regardless, it should be fun. Curry is playing like an MVP candidate, averaging over 37 points a game in the month of February. Durant is also playing like one in his first season back, and is also sharing the floor with elite offensive talents in James Harden and Kyrie Irving.
It’s a Nets team with aspirations to win it all, something Durant did twice as a member of the Warriors. Curry reflected on Durant’s greatest moment as his teammate.
“Probably the Game 3 shot in ’17, because that was the best basketball we’ve probably experienced on both sides. That Cavs team was amazing, we were amazing, every game was special and that shot was one that was obviously iconic as far as us getting over the hump in Game 3 and we ended up winning that championship.
“It was an amazing moment for him to cement himself as a champion.”