There has been a lot made about the complex relationship between Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, especially since Durant left the Thunder to sign with the Warriors.
So many instances of heated arguments on the sidelines between the two of them would always raise eyebrows, considering their statuses as perhaps two of the top five players in the entire league.
Durant leaving money on the table to sign with the Warriors while praising their incredible team chemistry only fueled speculation that his situation in Oklahoma City was unfulfilling.
After all, why would a player forfeit money and leave a legitimate championship contender that also happens to have another elite player on the roster if there wasn’t something wrong beneath the surface?
The contentiousness between the two of them when both were on the Thunder may have been conjectural, but after Durant left for the Warriors, Westbrook clearly wasn’t happy about how things played out.
After Westbrook signed his extension with the Thunder just a month after Durant left, he stressed loyalty to the franchise and region as why he decided to get the deal done now.
Question from kid: "How has your relationship with Russell Westbrook changed?" Crowd hoots and hollers. KD: "What is this, Jerry Springer?"
— Mike Finger (@mikefinger) September 9, 2016
He also lamented that Durant was pretty guarded during his free agent process towards him, and that he found out Durant was leaving via social media.
Westbrook also released his Air Jordan commercial recently that subtly made reference to Durant “running” from the Thunder.
Durant even said earlier in the offseason that his relationship with Westbrook was strained after he had signed with the Warriors, and that it was going to take some time to repair.
NewsOK has a story about Durant speaking to a crowd at a Nike event in Austin, Texas this week. Durant indicated that he and Westbrook are good as of now.
“We’re still cool,” said Durant. “We’re going to compete against each other at the highest level. We’re gonna have fun against each other. We’re still cool.”
This makes it seem as if there was never any problem to begin with, though. “Still cool” implies they were never not cool.
Kevin Durant on his relationship with Russell Westbrook. #Thunder #Warriors pic.twitter.com/D0bwNd7kiG
— Rockets Insider (@Rockets_Insider) September 9, 2016
If he had said that they were cool now, that would’ve made more sense, because Westbrook was obviously upset this offseason.
Maybe Durant is purely speaking for himself, and that this beef was one-sided on Westbrook’s part this entire time, which is most likely the case.
Even in the hypothetical of Durant leaving the Thunder because of the frustration with coexisting on the court with Westbrook, it doesn’t mean that he didn’t still want to be friends off the court.
Perhaps he and Westbrook have sorted things out since he last commented on their strained friendship.
If that’s true, good for them. They spent 8 seasons as teammates. That type of connection is hard to throw away, because even if they’ve had their fair share of disagreements, they’ve been through so much together in this league.