Oklahoma City is still experiencing some monumental changes in their post-Kevin Durant world. The Thunder are the only professional sports team in town, and as such, their players are icons in the area.
Durant leaving is a massive blow, and the city is going through the painful stages of distancing themselves from the NBA legend.
A sporting goods store made the decision to sell Durant Thunder jerseys at 99% off, which dropped the cost to a remarkable 48 cents.
Now a restaurant is going through a reinvention to purge itself from Durant. KD’s Southern Cuisine has decided to shut down temporarily and undergo a metamorphosis.
With Durant no longer playing in Oklahoma City, the restaurant is distancing themselves from him either due to the fear of public backlash taking the form on decrease profit margins, or the emotional pain of remembering that their beloved player left town.
It’s probably a combination of both, because the Yelp page for the restaurant was being flooded with hatred for Durant after he decided to sign with the Warriors.
Hal Smith Restaurants owns a majority stake in KD’s Southern Cuisine, and announced that a new name for the establishment will be released in August.
So as not to upset the customers too much, the menu will largely remain the same, and it sounds like the only major change will be the association with Durant, which is understandable.
Durant once owned a stake in the restaurant, but it’s unknown whether he has sold it or not. If he does still own it, he can take some satisfaction in angry Thunder fans unwittingly making him money as they go there to eat, and likely end up bashing him as they enjoy some food.
Not being based in the area anymore likely convinced Durant to sell his stake, though. If he truly has a passion for great food, I’m sure there’s plenty of investment opportunities for a restaurant in the Bay Area.