“5 years to get an ovation, crazy”: Kevin Durant and Steve Kerr’s candid conversation mid-game during opening night revealed 

Phoenix Sun's Kevin Durant had a candid conversation with his former coach Steve Kerr during their NBA opening night game. Durant was playing in his first game in front of Warriors fans since leaving the team in 2019. The Golden State Warriors gave him a glowing tribute before the game tipped off at the Chase Center.

Durant spent three successful seasons with the Warriors Golden from 2017-19 that included two NBA titles and his own two NBA Finals MVP awards. The Warriors lost the 2019 NBA Finals to Toronto after Durant tore his Achilles in Game 5 and Klay Thompson went down in Game 6.

Steve Kerr approached Durant mid-game and said, "What's up, Kev? How are you doing, man? Welcome back. Five years to get an ovation, crazy. You look good. You enjoy Phoenix? Good, good. I'm good. Family is great. I am a Granpa now. My son had a little girl."

Earlier In March, coach Kerr said:

The Warriors had “always kind of anticipated his return, and we’ve always had a planned ‘welcome back’ video to thank him for everything he did for this franchise."

Durant's tribute video was met by cheers from the crowd who seemed genuinely happy to welcome the NBA star.

Kevin Durant shines in visit back to the Warriors

Kevin Durant had a successful outing at the Chase Center, helping the Phoenix Suns overcome the Warriors 108-104. In what turned out to be an entertaining, tightly contested game, the Warrior fans got to see Durant's talent on full display. He led the Suns in minutes and ended the game with 18 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

While Durant was impressive, Devin Booker was the real star of the game and the overwhelming best player in a Suns uniform. Booker finished with 32 points and eight assists. Another notable contributor for Phoenix was Josh Okogie who had 17 points and five rebounds.

Warriors hard-working big man Kevon Looney spoke about 13-time All-Star Kevin Durant, "It’s always different seeing somebody in a different uniform but just to know what he did in our jersey, he did for our team and this city, for the Bay Area. He had some legendary years here. He put his body on the line, risked it all out there playing through injury.”

The statement seemed to epitomize the Warriors fans' feelings regarding Kevin Durant. He will undoubtedly go down in the annals of Golden State history as one of the best to ever lace up in the Bay Area.