Durant's mother: Oklahoma City's reaction to my son's return 'hurtful'
The negative response Kevin Durant received in his return to Oklahoma City Saturday night appeared to be dirt off his shoulder, but to his mother, Wanda, the boos and comments cut much deeper.
"The most vicious things you could say, they said about my son tonight. It's hurtful," Wanda told ESPN's Ramona Shelburne following the Golden State Warriors' 130-114 victory over the Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
"We poured our heart into this place. Not just him. Our family. This is basketball. This is not whether or not you're going to make it into heaven."
Related: Durant's mom stands up to support son while OKC crowd boos
Wanda, who was seated behind Golden State's bench during the heated contest, was approached by a number of Thunder fans throughout the night who felt the need to criticize and insult her son to her face. Needless to say, as a mother, hearing Kevin talked about in such a manner wasn't a pleasant experience.
"They called him a snake, a sellout, a b----h," she said. "It's just a sad day. I understand that they loved him. I do understand it. But the name calling. The people with the cupcakes on their backs ... It didn't have to be like this."
Related - Durant mocks OKC boos: 'I actually thought it would be a little louder'
Durant dropped a team-high 34 points on 12-of-21 shooting, along with nine rebounds and three dimes in 32 minutes of action to help the Warriors extend their winning streak to three games. After the final buzzer, the former league Most Valuable Player was met by his mother, who had tears in her eyes as she embraced her son.
"This is not the first time I've been back since Kevin left," Wanda said. "This is maybe my fourth or fifth time. Every time that I've been back, people seem like they are afraid to say something nice to me. People will whisper, 'There's his mom. Ooooooh!'
"There are people who tell me they still love him. But then you have the people who shot his jersey up. My son poured his heart and soul into this place for eight years and for them to treat him like this because he decided to go someplace else to play is really tough."
Durant was drafted second overall by the Seattle SuperSonics (now Thunder) in 2007, spending nine seasons with the organization before leaving as an unrestricted free agent last summer to sign with the Warriors.