OKLAHOMA CITY — It’s strange, Warriors coach Steve Kerr says, walking into Chesapeake Energy Arena to play the Oklahoma City Thunder, given how much has changed.
“Things move fast in the NBA,” Kerr said Saturday. “It’s crazy.”
Kevin Durant’s league-altering decision to leave the Thunder for the Warriors in 2016 added a confrontational layer to an established rivalry. Then, when he left the Warriors this past summer for the Brooklyn Nets, he took the rivalry with him, as did his former teammate Russell Westbrook when he was traded to the Houston Rockets.
Saturday’s meeting between the Warriors and Thunder will be the second time they have played this season, but neither game has carried the same gravitas as the matchups over the last four years.