Durant offered cabinet post to stay with Thunder
Oklahoma’s effort to keep Kevin Durant with the Thunder is going all the way to the top job in the state.
In answering a question during the Oklahoma Press Association’s annual convention Saturday, Gov. Mary Fallin said she would be willing to give Durant a government post if it kept the seven-time All-Star with Oklahoma City.
“If Kevin Durant thinks about leaving, which I hope he doesn’t — Oklahoma loves Kevin Durant, and Kevin Durant loves Oklahoma. But if he’ll stay, I’ll make him a Cabinet person for health and fitness on my Cabinet,” Fallin said, according to the Tulsa World.
Durant will become an unrestricted free agent July 1, which is the first day teams can legally engage with free agents.
He took the Thunder within one game of the NBA Finals before they were eliminated by the Golden State Warriors in the conference finals.
ESPN.com reported after Oklahoma City’s elimination that a return for Durant to the Thunder on a two-year max contract, with a player option to return to free agency in the summer of 2017, is widely regarded as the most likely scenario for him in his first foray into free agency.
Durant also is widely expected to take a handful of face-to-face recruiting meetings with a select group of interested teams, with the Warriors and San Antonio Spurs regarded by many rival executives as the two biggest threats to lure Durant away from the Thunder.
Fallin acknowledged that her offer might not hold much sway in Durant’s decision, saying the Cabinet position “might not be as attractive as a couple of million dollars.”
Information from ESPN senior writer Marc Stein contributed to this report.
