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There's a reason why Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant is one of the most beloved players in the NBA, even at his young age. It's because the superstar always seems to be in tune with what is going on around him and it showed again as he paid tribute to the victims of the recent Newtown, Conn. tragedy by putting ‘Newtown, CT' on his game shoes during the Thunder's win over the Sacramento Kings.
The tragedy really hit Durant hard as he thought about his relatives that are at the age of the victims. Twenty children were among the 27 killed in the shooting on Friday at Sandy Hook Elementary.
Durant tweeted his condolences to the families and the victims saying, "Prayers go out to the families that were affected by the shooting in Connecticut, c'mon man this is too sad! Damn."
Durant later spoke about the incident following the game against the Kings, as quoted in the USA Today:
"I've got family members that young. Just to see kids that really couldn't do nothing for themselves, couldn't protect themselves and for their lives to be taken away and for their parents to go through stuff like that, that's the least I could do.
"I wish I could do more. But it hit me really hard. It's tough to see, especially kids that couldn't do anything for themselves. Words can't even describe it. I'm kind of at a loss for words right now."
Durant scored 31 points while wearing the shoes he dedicated to the victims.