Chances are that a lot of Oklahoma City Thunder fans out there won't agree with James Harden. In season two of Netflix's Starting 5, Harden said that when Kevin Durant retires, his statue should be in Oklahoma City.
Why? According to Harden, "He the one that made Oklahoma City cool for real. Like, he deserves the spot. And he's one of the best basketball players that ever touched a basketball, like literally."
Durant spent eight of his first nine seasons in the league with the Thunder, as his first came with the SuperSonics in their last season in Seattle. He became the face of Oklahoma City, not just on the basketball court. Number 35 jerseys were everywhere.
He played all 82 games in his second season with the Thunder, averaging 30.1 points per game. Durant has only averaged 30+ points in a single season twice in his career, both in OKC. What was the other season? 2013-14. Not only did KD average a career-high 32 points per game in 81 contests that season, but he won the NBA MVP award.
Durant led the Thunder to back-to-back conference finals appearances in 2010-11 and 2011-12, even making it to the NBA Finals in 2012, where OKC fell to Miami. The Thunder went to the conference finals four out of six seasons from the 2010-11 season to the 2015-16 season, which happened to be KD's last in Oklahoma City.
That's when it got ugly. Really ugly.
Harden says Durant should get a statue in Oklahoma City
There are moments in NBA history you never forget, and one of those is where you were when you learned that Durant was leaving the Thunder in 2016 free agency to sign with the Warriors, the team that just eliminated OKC in the WCF a few weeks earlier.
Just like that, KD went from being a hero in Oklahoma City to the No. 1 villain. It happened overnight. Fans burned their Durant jerseys or found unique ways to repurpose him.
The player who was supposed to lead the Thunder to a championship alongside Russell Westbrook instead teamed up with Steph Curry in Golden State to help the Warriors win two more titles (and he won two NBA Finals MVPs). He took the "easy route" to win a championship, joining a dynasty, at least that's what most people think.
Harden spent three seasons in Oklahoma City with Durant before the Thunder traded him to the Rockets, and he became MVP James Harden. He's qualified to say that KD deserves a statue in OKC, despite many fans thinking otherwise.
If fans got to choose between a Durant or a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander statue, the overwhelming majority (if not every single fan) would go with SGA. He won NBA MVP, led OKC to a title, and won NBA Finals MVP. Durant has done all three of those things, but not in the same season, and not with the Thunder. At least he'll have to watch OKC get its rings next week. That will be satisfying.
Over nine years have passed since KD's decision, and although Thunder fans eventually got to watch their team win a title, that doesn't mean OKC will welcome a Durant statue with open arms.
The betrayal that happened on that early July day in the summer of 2016 will never fully fade.