It appears that Kevin Durant has not forgotten about how Toronto Raptors fans cheered when he suffered a torn Achilles injury during the NBA Finals.
Durant hit the floor with a thud early in the second quarter of Game 5 of the series and some fans at Scotiabank Arena began cheering before Raptors players urged them to stop.
The Golden State Warriors superstar missed the rest of the Finals and Toronto went on to win their first championship in six games.
When asked about the series during a recent interview with Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Durant said “It will probably be the last time they (Raptors) will be in the Finals.”
It sounds like sour grapes from the 30-year-old Durant who is now with the Brooklyn Nets after signing a four-year, $164 million contract with the team last month.
K-D can’t be right, can he? Is that going to be the last time Toronto will make the NBA Finals?
What’s more interesting to me is whether Durant thinks the Nets have a better shot than the Raptors at making the NBA Finals this year and beyond?
K-D will likely miss the entire 2019-20 NBA season as he recovers from his injury and Toronto won’t have Kawhi Leonard after he bolted for the L.A. Clippers this offseason.
Odds Shark’s latest NBA championship odds put both Toronto and Brooklyn at +2500, tied for tenth on the list of title favourites and behind the likes of Clippers, L.A. Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks.
The Nets’ odds will surely improve in 2020-21 when Durant returns to the court while Toronto’s odds may well decline depending on what the roster looks like.
I think it’s safe to say that K-D will be right about the Raptors’ title chances for the foreseeable future.
But forever is a long time, so odds are Durant will eventually be wrong, and hopefully it’s sooner rather than later.