Kevin Durant’s tie to the Bay Area is strong. He won two NBA titles with the Warriors during the club’s dynasty of the 2010s. Still, Durant’s connection to the Bay Area is difficult to define, since he opted to leave Golden State after just three seasons.
But after Durant’s new team, the Nets, destroyed the Bucks in a second-round playoff game on Monday, Durant presented a very clear connection to the Bay — for some reason, he wore an Oakland Athletics hat and a Tupac Shakur t-shirt to his postgame presser.
Here’s a photo to prove it, courtesy of a stunned Shayna Rubin, who covers the A’s for the Mercury News.
And since we live in a world with Photoshop, here’s a video of the press conference to cross reference the photo.
The hat and t-shirt combo is an incredibly strong Bay Area themed outfit. Shakur, better known as 2Pac, spent some of his formative years in the Bay Area, including in the North Bay’s Marin County. Shakur famously said that Oakland is the city where he “learned the game.”
So why did Durant choose the Bay Area tribute outfit? Is it because he “learned the game” in the Bay Area like 2Pac? Is he secretly coming back to the Warriors (not likely at all), or perhaps he’s having fun with Bay Area fans that miss watching him play basketball, especially in the playoffs?
Not sure. But an A’s hat? That’s always a good look. Same story with the 2Pac shirt. Durant is certainly doing his part to keep that hard-to-define Bay Area connection strong.
(Photo courtesy Flickr/KT King)
Bay Area Sports Hub 