Washington Wizards: Kevin Durant Is About To Break His Hometown’s Heart

The Washington Wizards waited over two years to date Kevin Durant, but the hometown hero just isn’t that interested

A few months ago, this girl and I made plans to hang out. We made plans on a Tuesday, I think, and decided to spend some time together on Wednesday. She texted me in the afternoon on Wednesday, wondering what time we agreed to hang out. I told her one o’clock.

I got to the cafe about fifteen minutes earlier than the time we were supposed to meet. One o’clock came. She wasn’t there. One-thirty came and went. Still, she wasn’t there.

I didn’t want to seem desperate, so I just sat there waiting, not wanting to text her to see what’s up.

While waiting I kept thinking to myself, there’s no way she actually isn’t going to show up.

I made up a few excuses, like, she might have gotten into a fender bender on her way here…maybe she fell asleep…maybe she just forgot.

An hour went by, which felt like an eternity at that point, but she finally showed up. She apologized for being late and I was relieved. All of my prior anxieties were washed away. She showed up.

I couldn’t imagine how crappy it might’ve felt if she didn’t show up.

Having to get up and leave the cafe after sitting alone, anxiously staring at my phone would have been embarrassing, for sure. But those thoughts and feelings were gone. Once she arrived, I was cool.

I’m having those same thoughts now. Except, this time, the person I really wanted to show up probably won’t.

I’m using the same excuses to comfort myself, but I’ve begun to realize that this person – who I really, really like – actually isn’t going to show up. This person just isn’t that into me, I guess.

The Washington Wizards have planned a date with Kevin Durant for over two years. All of the dates they’ve went on before Durant were cheap. The Wizards wanted to save their money and even wasted a season just so they could finally date Durant.

The Wizards are a nice guy.

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They have a great feature in John Wall.

Bradley Beal is a bit injury prone, but he has All-Star potential.

Heck, Otto Porter and Marcin Gortat are solid features too.

Kelly Oubre needs to develop, but he’ll certainly be a contributor in the near future.

There’s nothing wrong with the Wizards, really. Are the flawed? Sure. But, everyone is flawed.

Durant is someone everyone wants, though.

He’s going to have suitors who’ve won more than the Wizards.

Teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors, both recent winners of the NBA Championship, are rockin’ gold rings. They’re attractive – perhaps even more attractive than the Wizards, who have loved Durant for much longer than anyone else.

Durant is going to do what’s best for him. And from the looks of it, he’s not even going to meet with the Washington Wizards, even though they’ve spent years waiting for him to show up.

"Durant’s representatives at Roc Nation are working to solidify invitations with the Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs and Thunder, league sources said.Several teams that have interest in Durant – the Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets and Washington Wizards – could still find audiences with him, but appear to be outsiders in the process now."

As of right now, Durant isn’t meeting with the Wizards. He’s silenced his phone and he’s only accepting calls from the teams he finds really attractive. The Boston Celtics and Miami Heat used to be hot and clearly aren’t anymore, but Durant still sees more potential in them than the Wizards.

When I first read the list of teams that are meeting with Durant and noticed that Washington wasn’t included, my heart sank.

Washington, D.C. has been waiting on Durant for over two years.

The hometown hero has done nothing but praise the district. He goes to Washington football games, hangs out with local artists and always goes out of his way to show love to his home. But he apparently only likes the district and doesn’t love the Wizards.

I can’t lie, I was overly optimistic about the Wizards’ chances of landing Durant. I saw how much LeBron James values playing at home and thought Durant would do the same.

The Wizards did everything they could to convince him to come home.

They hired David Adkins, Durant’s former high school coach, last year. They hired Scott Brooks, Durant’s former NBA coach, a few months ago. They traded up for Oubre, Durant’s friend, last year. They did everything besides rename the Verizon Center to the Wanda Pratt Center.

As Carla Peay put it, the Wizards might get a pity date, but even that isn’t certain. We – meaning I – will continue to think of scenarios where Durant will come home. Maybe he’ll sign a one-year deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Wizards will play well, and then he’ll come next summer.

We – meaning I – just have to come to grips with it: Durant just isn’t that into his hometown.

Washington’s collective hearts are broken. He should have accepted the date, even if a long-term relationship wasn’t in his plans. He should have done it for those who’ve cared about him for way longer than anyone else.

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Now the Washington Wizards have to look for another partner – a partner who surely won’t bring them as much joy as Kevin Durant. The void was created by Washington. Durant doesn’t owe them anything. But it sure would be nice if he at least showed up for the date.