The Oklahoma City Thunder are amidst a rebuild right now. They traded away superstars Paul George and Russell Westbrook for boatloads in the same offseason for boatloads of picks. Recently in the 2022 NBA Draft, they selected Gonzaga player Chet Holmgren as the second overall pick. Their last year’s lottery pick, Josh Giddey, exceeded expectations the previous season.
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Thunder GM Sam Presti is a well-respected GM. He once formed the core of a very exciting team nearly a decade ago. In successive NBA Drafts, he drafted Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, and James Harden. This formed the core of the team that reached the 2012 NBA Finals. But they lost to the Miami Heat in five games. There was camaraderie among the players, especially Durant and Westbrook, and it looked like it could be the start of something special.
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But in a recent interview, a former teammate of Durant and Westbrook made some interesting comments. Kendrick Perkins, an NBA veteran who won the 2008 NBA title with the Boston Celtics, had this to say about Kevin and Westbrook’s friendship. He said, “It was all about KD and Russ. Like, it was about their relationship. Like, that continuity wasn’t there.”
He further said, “You know I mean? Like, no matter how much they tried to fake it to the public, their brotherhood. Like, it never was a brotherhood. And that’s okay right. Because you don’t have to be somebody’s brother to go out there and win a championship, but it helps. But they never just got on the same page and it was like the most difficult situation I have ever been in…”
The 2016 NBA Playoffs and the departure of Kevin Durant
The OKC Thunder led three games to one in the 2016 Western Conference Finals after four games. It was unbelievable. Defending camps and winner of record 73 regular-season games, Golden State Warriors were on the ropes. The Thunders just needed to finish the series off and go to their first NBA Finals since the 2012 Finals.
It could have been a watershed moment for Kevin and Russ. With Durant‘s impending free agency, a moment like this could have made it easier for him to resign and compete together with Russ, with whom KD’s relationship had cooled down a bit.
But alas, the Warriors would win three straight games to close out the series. And in free agency, Kevin left Oklahoma and joined the Warriors. It didn’t sit well with Russell for quite some time. When they faced each other for the first time, they constantly jawed with each other. But as of now, the relationship has considerably improved, but it will never be what it used to be.
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Bagavathi Eswaran