SEATTLE (AP) -Kevin Durant’s first NBA bobblehead was shaking side-to-side – as in, “Not tonight.”
The second overall draft choice missed the Seattle SuperSonics’ game Tuesday night against the Memphis Grizzlies with what his team called flu-like symptoms.
Durant, who leads Seattle with 19.4 points per game, played in Friday’s rookie-sophomore game at the NBA’s All-Star Weekend in New Orleans, then visited his former teammates with the University of Texas at their game against Baylor on Saturday night in Waco, Texas.
He was back in Seattle on Monday night for the Sonics’ practice but then felt ill during Tuesday morning’s shootaround. The 19-year-old rookie showed up hours later for the game, but the Sonics sent him home just before tipoff.
That angered the 10,000 fans who had just received the Durant bobbleheads on their way into the arena. They booed when the public address announcer asked them to send Durant get-well thoughts while informing them Durant was absent.
Delonte West started for Durant, who has been honored as the league’s rookie of the month for each of the season’s first three months.
Durant had missed only one of his first 51 professional games, Dec. 31 against Philadelphia, when he had a finger injury. He played in all 35 of Texas’ games in his only season with the Longhorns while becoming the national player of the year last spring.
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