Durant Surprised Celtics Fans Have Beef With Him

Kevin Durant is baffled by the notion that Celtics fans are angry at him for not signing with their team, Chris Haynes of ESPN.com reports.

Boston was one one of six clubs that had a meeting with Durant during free agency before the All-Star forward surprised nearly everyone by signing with the Warriors. The Celtics did land one of the biggest free agents on the market, power forward Al Horford, though he’s been sidelined this month by a concussion. Horford verbally agreed with the Celtics just before their brass met with Durant, giving them a chance to create their own ‘Super Team,’ according to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe.

The Warriors make their annual trip to Boston on Friday.

“What can they be mad about?” Durant told Haynes and other members of the media. “I never played there. I never said I was going there. … No matter who goes in there, they’re going to boo them. But I have no attachment to Boston at all.”

Himmelsbach declares that Celtics fans felt abandoned by Durant, despite his lack of history with the club.

Durant said he has no beef with Celtics forward Jae Crowder, one of the players who tried to recruit him. Crowder criticized Durant this summer for selecting the Warriors.

“Why am I going to be mad about a guy who has an opinion? I respect all these players,” Durant told Haynes. “If they don’t respect what I did, I can’t control that.”

Boston point guard Isaiah Thomas, who was part of the team’s meeting with Durant, said he exchanged text messages with Durant last season and into the summer until he chose the Warriors, Himmselbach continues. But Thomas holds no animosity toward Durant, Himmelsbach adds.

“For whatever reason, he picked the Warriors,” Thomas told Himmelsbach and other media members. “I know one thing: He wanted to have fun playing basketball, and he thought the style of play and the coaching staff we had, it was fun playing here. He loves the style of play that we played at, and we just came up short.”

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