Following weeks of building expectation, the NBA on Monday night announced that Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook had earned the MVP award for the 2016-17 season.
This led to a heartfelt speech by Westbrook without any controversy or mention of his former teammate Kevin Durant as he thanked all the people that have helped him get to that point in his career to earn the prestigious honor from the organization, teammates, and family.
However, it didn't take long for this come back to Durant at some point as Thunder center Enes Kanter made a subtle jab at his former teammate by tweeting out a photo with Westbrook and the MVP trophy.
No! No! No!
You Are The Real MVP…! pic.twitter.com/h8SE9XdgNT— Enes FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) June 27, 2017
This isn't the first time that Kanter has publicly bashed Durant as he has done that on numerous occasions over the last several months with the latest prior to Monday coming in an interview with SI.com earlier this month where he stated that the eight-time All-Star “took the easy way” out to “chase the ring.”
Kanter is clearly still hurt by Durant's decision to leave the team after a season where they were one game away from reaching the NBA Finals and held a 3-1 series lead against the defending NBA Champion Golden State Warriors that he joined a few weeks later in free agency.
Despite all the backlash from Durant's decision to sign with the Warriors, it has immediately paid dividends for him as he has won his first NBA title and was the team's leading offensive force garnering the Finals MVP award in convincing fashion.
Ultimately, the regular-season MVP provides Westbrook and his teammate some solace in the fact that they were able to help the remaining Thunder star accomplish a huge individual career accolade without Durant.
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