ORLANDO, Fla. — Kevin Durant didn’t want to wait until training camp to wear an Oklahoma City uniform for the first time.
The reigning NBA rookie of the year donned his relocated team’s jersey Tuesday, helping Oklahoma City beat the host Magic 100-77 in a summer league matchup. Durant scored 22 points in 28 minutes, looking every bit as smooth as he did this past season with the Seattle SuperSonics.
“For love of the game,” Durant said. “I liked being out there. It was great to play with my new teammates.”
Durant was a spectator for Oklahoma City’s summer-league debut Monday, sitting on the team bench. Just seeing that game made him decide that he wanted to play, and he indicated that he might stick around for Oklahoma City’s matchup Thursday against the Miami Heat, one that would pit him against his close friend Michael Beasley.
“He’s the type of player that can’t sit and watch,” Oklahoma City rookie point guard Russell Westbrook said after getting to play alongside Durant for the first time in a game situation. “He wants to get out there and play as well. He’s still a kid, so he wanted to play.”
One problem: Durant didn’t bring game sneakers to Orlando.
So he ordered some to be shipped overnight, and they arrived in plenty of time for tipoff.
“This is something I’ve been thinking about for a while, since we drafted those guys,” Durant said. “I just wanted to come out here and get a game with them, get a couple of games with them, just to see how they play.”
Jeff Green — who played with Durant in Seattle last season — had 28 points, and Westbrook finished with 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting for Oklahoma City. Durant shot 7-for-10 from the floor and also grabbed five rebounds.
Courtney Lee had 28 points for Orlando.
Last week’s announcement that the Sonics were moving to Oklahoma City — owner Clay Bennett’s hometown — caught Durant a bit off-guard, in the sense that he didn’t expect relocation to happen so quickly. But at the same time, he freely acknowledges that he’s ready to show new fans in Oklahoma what they’re getting, too.
“I really can’t wait to get started,” Durant said.
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