The NBA has gifted the OKC Thunder with the ultimate way to exact revenge against their disgraced former franchise cornerstone, Kevin Durant.
On Friday, ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania revealed the opening night slate for the 2025-26 regular season, and, hilariously enough, Durant's newest club, the Houston Rockets, will be playing out in Oklahoma City.
Not only is the return of their ex-centerpiece an entertaining premise on its own, as his visits back to the Sooner State have always been must-watch events ever since his departure from the organization back in 2016, but this specific "homecoming" will directly coincide with their ring ceremony and the raising of the championship banner into the rafters out at Paycom Center.
In the most poetic way, the occasion is bound to serve as a grave reminder of his cowardly decision to bolt from the Thunder to Golden State for the easy ride to glory in the first place.
Kevin Durant will bare witness to Thunder raising championship banner
No matter how much time has passed, the sour taste of Durant signing with the Warriors, the exact same team that he and the Thunder let up a 3-1 lead and ultimately lost to in that year's postseason, never seems to dissipate.
Sure, perhaps the outrage and visceral anger radiating from the fanbase may no longer be as sharp, but forgiveness has not been extended to the future Hall of Famer.
Frankly, it may never.
Instead, over the past nine years since his departure, rooting against Durant has been almost as popular of an act for Thunder fans as rooting for OKC itself.
As the old saying goes, living well is the best revenge, and, for the most part, Oklahoma City has been living extremely well during the post-KD era.
Sure, some dark moments have certainly been endured along the way, such as the infamous Damian Lillard buzzer-beater that officially put an end to Russell Westbrook's tenure and their 22-win season back during the 2020-21 campaign.
Of course, Sam Presti and company have done a stupendous job in making the lows feel more than worth it, as they now ride into next year with the reigning MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leading the charge, an NBA Championship officially in the bag, and the idea of this team becoming the league's next great dynasty a realistic possibility.
However, even with all of this and the understanding that Kevin Durant is merely just a figure of the franchise's past in mind, being able to rub it in his face that they were able to reach heights he never could bring them to with this confirmed opening-night tip-off against the Rockets makes for the cherry on top of this poetic revenge-tour sundae.