Kevin Durant is a somewhat special character, and getting along with him is not necessarily obvious. He didn’t succeed with another very big name in the league… A bit annoying, because they were teammates for 8 years.
When we look at the career of Kevin Durant, we realize that he was able to play with a lot of current superstars. Kyrie Irving and James Harden at the Nets, Stephen Curry at the Warriors: the least we can say is that the Slim Reaper has never lacked very high level teammates. This has also been the case almost since his debut in the NBA, with the duo he formed with Russell Westbrook at Thunder.
Drafted a year apart by Oklahoma City, the two men embodied the future of the franchise and even reached the Finals together in 2012. However, if they have been in open conflict since the winger’s departure to the Warriors in 2016, the worries between them go back much longer. It is in any case what claims Kendrick Perkins, who was their teammate for some time. During an interview with JJ Redick, he returned to the funny atmosphere that reigned there:
Westbrook and KD never on the same wavelength
Their continuity was not there. No matter how hard they tried to pretend for the public, their brotherhood, it was never a brotherhood. And that’s okay, because you don’t have to be someone’s brother to win a title. But let’s be honest, it helps. They were just never on the same wavelength.
It was the toughest situation I’ve ever been in, and I came from a Celtics team that was so supportive. When I came to the Oklahoma City Thunder, there was such a chasm. There was Eric Maynor, Russell Westbrook and James Harden…and Daequan Cook. They had their little clique and they had fun with each other. Then you had KD who was all alone. He didn’t even hang out with them.
From the outset, the tone was therefore set: KD was evolving concretely away from the group then led by Scott Brooks. Endowed with a somewhat strange personality, which can be seen in particular via his often sensational comments on Twitter, the 2014 MVP also had to evolve alongside a player like Brodie who was not easy to live. Inevitably, this was to lead to sparks between them…
Seen like that, it only made sense that they parted ways, Durantula setting sail for Golden State as soon as he had the chance. Incidentally, remember that in the process, RW had signed his extension to OKC on the day of the double champion’s birthday… Difficult to make more obvious in terms of provocation. A priori, it is not tomorrow the day before that we will see them again teammates, the franchises wishing to do without such a drama.
The Russell Westbrook – Kevin Durant duo was practically doomed, according to Kendrick Perkins. Appreciation isn’t necessary to win, but it’s always easier when your two superstars are on the same page…