After Kevin Durant ruptured his Achilles tendon in Game 5, Raptors fans took some heat for cheering at the injury. A popular argument has been that the fans were cheering for the steal and successful fast break on the other end, and this may be true for some fans, but it certainly wasn’t true for all of them.
As a result, a Raptors fans named Hamzah Moin has organized a GoFundMe on behalf of Raps fans everywhere, asking for donations to the Kevin Durant Charity Foundation as an apology to the Warriors star.
So far, the GoFundMe has over $20,000 in donations within roughly a day of posting. The foundation’s mission statement is “to enrich the lives of at-risk youth from low-income backgrounds through educational, athletic and social programs.”
“On behalf of the level-headed and true fans of Raptor Nation - from Toronto to Vancouver to Iqaluit to St. John's, and any fans living outside Canada: we wanted to say "sorry".
We're sorry that some fans of Raptor Nation at the Scotiabank arena, Jurassic Park, and in some bars/restaurants showing the game, displayed an ugly side of fandom when they cheered on the injury of Kevin Durant [...]
So I'd like to at least do my part in turning lemons into lemonade and showing the world how uncrappy we are.
Join me in sending our well-wishes to KD as he recovers. He's put his blood, sweat and tears in this beautiful sport. Let's give back to something he's passionate about - helping to enrich the lives of at-risk youth from low-income backgrounds through educational, athletic and social programs through the Kevin Durant Charity Foundation.”
Now this is the good stuff! This is how you own what was certainly a misstep by the fanbase as a whole. It goes a long way towards apologizing, and even if Durant and the Warriors never actually notice this, it at least benefits communities in need. That’s always worthwhile, and something to be proud of.
Early on Wednesday, Durant took to Instagram to provide a post-surgery update on his injury, and he was immediately greeted with well wishes from across the basketball world and by many, many more.
h/t GoFundMe
