Kevin Durant dunked on twice vs. Lakers

Things are not going well for Kevin Durant on Kobe’s jersey retirement night.

Monday night in Los Angeles is all about Kobe Bryant. The sure fire Hall of Famer had both of his jerseys retired at halftime. Bryant having both numbers retired meant that absolutely anything was going to be possible for the current Lakers team.

Unfortunately, that did not breed good news for the former MVP Kevin Durant. I’m sure Durant thought coming into this game nothing could possibly go wrong, and even if something did, there’s no way anyone would actually care. Well, he would be wrong because Durant managed to get put on a poster not once, but twice in the first half.

The first poster came courtesy of Julius Randle in the first quarter. Randle is very physical and an athletic big, but he’s not known for his jumping abilities. Durant is second in the league in blocks per game and should win this battle or at least alter Randle’s shot. Nope, Randle rose up and threw it down with authority.

The second one is by far worse than the first one. Larry Nance is known for his dunking abilities. He had arguably the dunk of the year last season when he baptized current teammate Brook Lopez in Brooklyn. I somewhat applaud Durant for actually challenging this dunk attempt, but as LaVar Ball once said, “stay in your lane.” Durant did not stay in his lane, and this dunk is going to be on a loop for at least a week.

Next: Vince Carter gets standing O in Toronto

It’s clear that the presence of Kobe at this game has given the Lakers an extra boost because there’s just no way this happens on any ordinary night. The Lakers only trail the Warriors who are without a handful of players by four at halftime.

If the Lakers can manage to pull this win out, it’ll be a perfect ending to an already special night for Lakers fans.