Oklahoma City Thunder fans and others around the league always wondered “what if Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook worked to their full potential as a duo?”
On paper, the two were arguably the most dominant one-two punch the NBA has seen since Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal in the early 2000s. Their skill sets were more complimentary of each other as years passed, yet their chemistry never reached the point of sheer dominance that was expected of them.
Former teammate Kendrick Perkins, who spent four seasons in OKC and now plays overseas in Europe, shared his thoughts on the two stars and their relationship.
“I think to me, what happened was with Russ and KD, I think they never really valued each other like that should have,” Perkins told Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. “And not saying that they didn’t value as, like, didn’t like each other. What I’m talking about is, I don’t think they ever realized and said, hey – I don’t think Russ ever realized and said, ‘Hey, man, I got Kevin Durant on my side. We could take over this league.’ And I never thought KD did vice versa. He never said, ‘Hey, I got Russell Westbrook on my side.’
You got two of the top five players in the NBA on the same team. And I just think that they never valued each other, and trust me – I’m telling you this right now – when they think about this 10 years later, they’re gonna regret that. They’re gonna regret that they didn’t value each other the way that they should have.”
Perkins makes a great point here as the relationship between two alpha dogs has to go beyond just liking each other and being friends, but also realizing the immeasurable potential they have to be an absolute nightmare for the rest of the league and trusting in each other's abilities to get the job done instead of fighting to be one step ahead of the other.
“Let me correct that,” said Perkins. “I think what it was was this. Russ actually did value KD as being the player that he is. But what I had to explain – and I explained it to KD – is that what you have to understand about Russ is that Russ, at the time, he wasn’t getting the credit of being on the same level as KD, but he had the potential.
The whole thing was is that, I thought out of all that, it never really came down to those two guys that got in the way of each other. It always was the outside that got in the way of both of them. It was always the outside. It was always a controversy of whose team it was. Why it just can’t be both of y’all’s team? How about Russ goes for 50 one night, you go for 60 the next night?”
Perkins had been referred to as the “glue” that held the team together in Boston, back when the Celtics “Big Three” was in full motion. It appears that he was the conscience in the Oklahoma City locker room as well, but unfortunately the message failed to get through.
Now after eight seasons together, Durant and Westbrook chase their own separate destinies with different teams.
Follow Us
Subscribe