OAKLAND - This summer should have been a victory lap for Kevin Durant after his sublime NBA Finals. Validation after proving himself on the biggest stage in basketball. A continuation of that magical night in late June when the Golden State Warriors clinched at home and the basketball world hailed him as the Finals MVP.
"I haven't seen him this happy in basketball," his mother, Wanda Durant said that night.
His brother Tony Durant went even further, "I've never seen him this happy, ever."
That should have been it. The ultimate Mutumbo-esque finger-wag to his critics.