The return of Kevin Durant's warriors in Seattle evokes memories

SEATTLE – Below are five points to remember from the Warriors 122-94 preseason victory over the Sacramento Kings on Friday at Key Arena.

Kevin Durant's return to Seattle reminded me of Kobe Bryant's farewell tour. Everything in the game was centered on nostalgia and history. Fans are eager for the star player to perform. And the result and the game itself mattered very little.

That sums up Durant's time and performance in the Warriors' pre-season win over the Kings in his first Seattle game since his rookie career nearly 11 years ago. He also captured Bryant's farewell tour during his twentieth and final season with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2015-16 campaign.

Admittedly, they were not the same thing. Bryant presented this show 66 times, while fighting injuries at age 37 against increased competition. Durant, 30, participated in an exhibition at his best against a disappointing Kings team. But it still brought reminders.

As Bryant struggled with Father Time and their young team struggled to learn together, the results quickly did not matter. Soon, the importance was to maximize the probability of the NBA lottery and impregnate every moment of Kobe.

Thus, when Bryant made his last stop on all the sites of the road, the following script arrived. He spoke before each game and offered memories of this opponent and how it shaped his career. Bryant fans filled the arena. The teams provided Bryant with gifts and a tribute video. Bryant either showed a few moments of himself or reminders that he's no longer the same player. And then, Bryant greeted the crowd before leaving the courthouse.

In the case of Durant? As detailed in my detailed article, Durant completed his career and return to Seattle almost 11 years after competing in his rookie season and 10 years after the relocation of the Sonics franchise to Oklahoma City. During it's engaged in a festive gathering during his pre-game warm-up. After the scorecard shows his best moments as a rookie, Durant entered the field during the presentation of the composition and presented a vintage Shawn Kemp jersey. Durant thanked the crowd and offered hope that the Sonics would be back in Seattle soon. After battling nervous tensions early in the game and missing three of his first four shots, Durant finished with 26 out of 10 shots out of 19, seven assists and six rebounds in 26 minutes.

Although Durant loves everything about Friday's game, he does not agree or feel comfortable with comparisons to Bryant's farewell tour. Whenever Durant approaches its last season, it may also be uncomfortable to reproduce such an atmosphere at each road stop.

"Everything about me was really weird. It's only cool tonight, "Durant said. "I do not want that another night. It was really weird. It took me a while to refocus and try to improve. I had to realize that it was only a preparatory game and that everyone was excited. "

2. Klay Thompson played a game with Klay. How suitable. Many eyes centered elsewhere (Durant). During many shooting attempts initially went to Durant. But as he has done in his seven-year career, Thompson has always dreamed of staying away from the stage. He then assumed this role due to an outstanding performance.

Thompson finished with a team record of 30 points, while shooting 10 out of 15 from the field, 6 out of 10 to 3 points and 4 out of 5 in 23 minutes. He added four rebounds and three assists. He had recorded his 60-point performance against Indiana two years ago after falling asleep all morning. The Warriors also did not have a shootout on Friday. Instead, Kerr asked the team to go to the Seattle Seahawks' practice center. They attended their meetings and then played football.

Thompson pointed out that this trend "could be a lucky coincidence" as he scored an NBA record with 37 points in a quarter on January 23, 2015 against the Kings after attending a morning shoot. It was not a coincidence, however, why Thompson played so well in Seattle. The notable former Washington State player received a loud ovation during pre-game warm ups. He has seen various fans wear the Cougars gear and hold Cougars flags.

"I saw a lot of Cougs in the building. That motivated me to shout them out, to be honest, "Thompson said. "Once a Coug, always a Coug. See all the love of the crowd was very inspiring. "

Beyond his usual talent, Thompson took advantage of his situation. He furiously fought the screens. The guard of kings, Buddy Hield, sank inexplicably under the screens as he watched over Thompson. And Thompson stayed calm while Durant fought despite his nerves. As a result, Thompson scored 17 points in the first quarter, while shooting 7-10 on the field and 5 of 8 at 3 points.

"It's perfect, it took me a while to refocus, Klay was the main reason I could focus again," Durant said. "He went there and was played, he shot down balls and allowed us to go from the offensive side of the ball until I was ready to go back to myself, which is what an excellent teammate did. We expect this from Klay in every game, but tonight he was amazing, I think he also pulled that energy. "

Thompson did it.

"Klay was delighted to be back in Washington," Kerr said. "It was the subplot here."

3. Damian Jones had the "game of the night". The game seemed impossible to do. Durant divides a pair of defenders and then throws a lob that seems out of reach. But then, the 7-foot-0, 245-pound Jones threw a dunk to one hand.

"He was still in the reasonable range," said Jones, smiling. "I was working on the mobility of my shoulder, so I was able to get up."

After Jones Dun gave the Warriors an advance of 93-55 with 5; 03 to do in the third quarter, all the bench of the Warriors was unblocked. And for a good reason. Kerr called this dunk "probably the game of the night."

"My coaches reacted in the same way as the players. I think Mike Brown has made my forearm shiver, "Kerr said with a smile. "It was amazing. What made it so amazing is that the pass seemed to go over his head. Damian has just reached out and taken it from nowhere.

Jones' disc symbolized his increasing comfort. In his second consecutive game as a starting center, Jones finished with seven points on three out of six shots, seven assists and two blocks in 15 minutes. Jones still ended up with three fouls, but he did not allow him to deter his aggression. Subsequently, Jones called his piece "pretty solid".

The Warriors saw in Jones' dunk a little more than solid.

"It gave you a glimpse of what Damian can do," said Thompson. "I thought it was inaccessible. It was a terrible pass. But he found this thing again and she looked so easy. That's what he's going to give us all year, this spacing between the floors and the edge. I am happy for Damian. He is an animal there. "

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4. Kerr talks about his coaching influence. Kerr felt nostalgic. He was wearing a Seattle Supersonics t-shirt before Friday's game. He loved the fact that Durant wore a Kemp shirt during introductions. He immersed himself in the atmosphere that surrounded him.

The Warrior coach also loved meeting Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens, who led the Sonics NBA team in 1979. After playing for the Wilkins with the Cleveland Cavaliers (1989-1992), Kerr enjoyed some of Wilkens' training lessons.

"The practices were streamlined and accurate," Kerr said. "We did not do a lot of offensive. But what we did was that we ran really well. So we executed like crazy.

Kerr also has no complete game book. It adopts the principles of "less-is-more" and "smarter work, not harder".

"I learned something that I took with my own coaching philosophy. Do not have a thousand pieces. Have some net games, "said Kerr. "Make sure you execute them well. It's really nice to find an offensive rhythm that way. I thought Lenny was as good as coaching. "

Kerr has the same respect for assistant coach Ron Adams, who is in his fifth season as Kerr's assistant. For the fourth year in a row, Adams was selected as the NBA's best assistant coach in a GM poll. Adams has held various assistant positions in San Antonio (1992-1994), Philadelphia (1994-1996), Milwaukee (1998-2003), Chicago (2003-08), Oklahoma City (2008-10), Chicago ( 2010). -13) and Boston (2013-14).

"It's a great wedding. One of the reasons I hired Ron four years ago is that I needed his experience. I needed someone to tell me that it was not going to be done, "Kerr said. "We have to find work here. We must do it and we must do it. "

Adams never bites his tongue.

"Everyone told me that Ron was a truth teller. He will give it to you directly, "said Kerr. "So I think we really influenced ourselves. It's the guy who sometimes stops me and says, "Do not forget this exercise or this scheme we have to work on." I probably loosened it a little bit in driving of our practices. More than anything, I like being with him, having dinner with him, drinking wine, talking politics, playing sports and living. He has been an excellent companion and coach for us. "