Kevin Durant's Oklahoma City restaurant is rebranding
We’ve written several times in this space about Oklahoma’s abrupt and intense breakup with Kevin Durant. When the best player in Oklahoma City Thunder history left for the Golden State Warriors several weeks ago, it brought on lots of heartache and more than a few price-cutting super sales. It’s been a reminder that cities forge real bonds with star athletes that cannot be ignored as soon as they change teams.
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As one of the NBA’s best two or three players, Durant had stronger connections to OKC than most free agents. His departure has caused some headaches for colleagues and business associates, including those involved with KD’s, his restaurant. Now that the Durant name isn’t so strong in OKC, the eatery has closed to rebrand itself. From Brianna Bailey for The Oklahoman:
Kevin Durant’s Bricktown restaurant closed Sunday, just three weeks after Durant announced plans to leave Oklahoma City for the Golden State Warriors. However, Kd’s Restaurant, operated by Norman-based Hal Smith restaurant group, vows to reopen with a new theme after Labor Day. […]
“It has been an honor — and a lot of fun — to partner with Kevin Durant at Kd’s these last few years,” Hal Smith, founder and CEO of the Oklahoma-based restaurant group said in a statement. “We wish him the very best as he takes a new direction in his career.”
Although the restaurant has remained popular since Durant announced his relocation to another state, it has always been part of Smith’s plan to be flexible and offer a new concept in that space should circumstances change over time, the company said.
Durant said he was a 25 percent owner in Kd’s when the eatery was first announced in 2012, but it is unclear if he will maintain any ownership stake in the new restaurant.
The closure is apparently serious enough that the KD’s website no longer works, but a quick glance at the menu shows that only one item, the “Thunder Sticks” starter of chicken tenders with assorted dipping sauces, had any sort of basketball or Durant-affiliated name. Smith said that his group does not intend to overhaul the menu and will continue to serve the same grill and soul food standards.
Yelp reviews suggest that many Oklahomans will be happy to eat the same food under a different name. However, one take from a “Rick R.” of Spreckels, California suggests that the Durant name carried the restaurant for years:
Horrible. Not sure if the people who left glowing reviews were mesmerized by the fact that this is Kevin Durant’s restaurant, or they are huge fans of Church’s fried chicken and thought it was even better because it arrived on a plate vs. in a bucket.
Rick’s review was posted on May 29, just one day before the Thunder lost to the Warriors in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. Many of the reviews that followed Durant’s decision to change teams weren’t about the food at all, so it’s as yet unclear how the city’s diners will react to the new incarnation.
In the meantime, Thunder fans will have to spend their time at Westbrook’s, a local diner where chefs throw food directly into the faces of patrons.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
