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Kevin Durant is venturing into new territory this season.
KD's decision to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder and join the Golden State Warriors has already resulted in Durant being viewed more as a villain than ever before.
Fair or not, it's a reality Durant knows he has to live with now.
After his decision, Durant quickly was on his way to join Team USA for the Rio Olympics where he helped lead the United States to its third straight gold medal. KD was the team's leading scorer and dropped 30 points vs. Serbia in the gold medal game.
Beyond helping Team USA win gold, the experience in Rio was valuable to Durant for another reason.
Via The Vertical's Michael Lee:
“It was therapy for me after making a big change in my life,” Durant told The Vertical in the bowels of Carioca Arena 1 about an hour after scoring 30 points in Sunday’s 96-66 victory. “It made my life easier … I knew [a backlash] was coming. It was definitely different for me, but to come here in an environment where people accepted me and didn’t care about anything except being my buddy, that’s what I needed.”
Every NBA fan surely doesn't root for the Warriors, but a lot probably support Team USA. That may have helped ease up the villain idea fans were prepared to have for Durant.
Either way, Durant definitely wanted to get a lot out of his Team USA experience. He made the most of it on the court and is trying to get even more out of it off the court.
Durant didn't extinguish fans' view that he is now more of a villain with the Warriors, but maybe he won over a few that he wouldn't normally have by performing so well for his country.
