Warriors Give Kevin Durant Tribute Video, Standing Ovation

Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant received a standing ovation from the Golden State Warriors in the regular season opener.

PHOENIX -- The Phoenix Suns tipped off their regular season in the Bay Area, a familiar place for forward Kevin Durant, who won two NBA Finals with the Golden State Warriors before leaving for the Brooklyn Nets. 

Durant hadn't been back to the Bay (competing in front of fans at least) since departing after 2018-19. 

The Warriors were adamant they wanted to honor Durant in some capacity upon his return, and they did so with a video prior to the season opener at the Chase Center:

Kevin Durant tribute video before #Suns starting lineup.

Standing ovation incoming. #Suns #Warriors #DubNation pic.twitter.com/6cn2nDYnXT

— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) October 25, 2023

Durant was met with mostly cheers but did indeed receive some boo's from the Warriors home crowd. 

In an interview with Andscape's Marc J Spears, Durant believes the Warriors should retire his No. 35 jersey.

“He should. Look at the résumé. That would warrant me to get a jersey retirement, right? Do I want to be honored by a franchise I put work in for? Of course, I would love that,” Durant told Spears. “I had some great moments there. I built some solid relationships there. Yeah, man. Hell yeah, that would be sweet. I love that organization, man. I love my time there, seriously. Me leaving, people shouldn’t doubt that, because I left there.”

Perhaps down the line Golden State will, and potentially the Suns may join that train if he can help bring a franchise-first NBA Finals to the Valley.