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The dynamic between Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant during their time with the Oklahoma City Thunder has been in question since the team started to have relevance in the Western Conference.
Can two big-time scorers work together? Can two alpha dogs coexist on the same hardwood? Who takes the last shot? Who gives up their shot for a better one?
Durant insists none of those things played a major factor in their relationship, but it was the simple things that changed their personal relationship instead.
Article Continues Below“When you start to figure out what you do and who you are outside of basketball, at an early age, Russell figured that out. I didn’t,” Durant told Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post before Tuesday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers. “We’re not going to hang out every day like we did when we were 19, 20 years old. That’s just unrealistic. That’s just life. You don’t hang out with your 19-year-old buddies no more every day, if you’re growing up and doing your own thing. Our personalities, my interests, went another way, and his went another way, and I respected that.”
The Golden State Warriors forward was asked if he was bothered at the new Jordan Brand commercial where Westbrook dances to “Now I do what I want.”
“It’s a commercial,” said Durant. “What are you thinking too far into it for? What are we talking about? That’s what I’m so baffled about. I understand if you’ve got your opinions on me, or what I did. That’s cool. But what are we talking about, at the end of the day? Like, are me and Russell going to go to the middle of the court and fight? You want to see that, right? That’s what the fans want to see. What are we talking about? We play basketball.”
Still, Durant believes there will always be a respect between them, as they grew together within the organization and shared eight long years of practices, shootarounds and many games torturing opposing defenses.
“You know, there’s always that respect you have for somebody,” Durant said. “I love [Westbrook’s] family. I mean, me and his brother [Ray] hung out more than me and Russell because Russell had a wife. Russell was at home. I was a single man, a bachelor in [Oklahoma City], obviously we’re not going to be together every day.”
“Russell had what he wanted to do on the road. He liked to go to the casino. I don’t. You know what I’m saying? I didn’t like to go to the casino. That’s just what he does. And just because we decided to do different things on the road and not hang out as much as we did when we were 19, that’s not a bad thing. That’s not like I lost respect for Russ because we didn’t hang out every day, or I lost touch with Russ because we didn’t hang out every day.”
