Warriors’ Kevin Durant downplays return to hometown Washington

When he didn’t include Washington among the six teams he invited to the Hamptons in July to pitch him on signing, Wizards fans’ grassroots “KD2DC” movement effectively ended. Outside of the chance to play in front of friends and family, he has long viewed this road matchup as just one of 82 on the schedule. Perhaps more noteworthy is that he will play his first game Tuesday against Scott Brooks, his head coach in Oklahoma City for seven seasons (2008-15). In their time together, the Thunder reached two conference finals and one NBA Finals. Brooks was named NBA Coach of the Year in 2010, four years before he sat next to Durant as the perennial All-Star delivered a tearful MVP speech. Durant has mostly followed Brooks’ first season with the Wizards by skimming the occasional box score. After a rough start, Washington won 18 of 21 games entering the All-Star break to emerge as a favorite for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. In this Wizards team, Durant sees the same traits that defined Brooks’ most successful Thunder teams: solid defense, free-flowing offense and, above all else, superstars who are encouraged to play their preferred style. Toward the end of Durant’s three-minute pregame availability, point guard Shaun Livingston stepped out of the visiting locker room and saw reporters clogging his route to the court for warmups.