Russell Westbrook tired of Kevin Durant, Warriors (video)
Russell Westbrook is now the lone star on the Oklahoma City Thunder, and he’s tired of talking about his old teammate’s new team.
When Kevin Durant jumped ship to the Golden State Warriors this offseason, much has been made of the lack of subsequent communication between and Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook.
Durant has added to the potential tension with some recent comments about his free agency decision and the Warriors’ organization as a whole.
"They work together. You hear family a lot. That’s just a word sometimes, but this is really a lifestyle here. You can feel it when you walk in the door, in the practice facility, everybody is just together. That’s something that I can appreciate as a basketball player and someone who values relationships. You can tell that that’s what they stand on, that’s what we stand on. I feel really grateful to play for a team like that and play with a bunch of players who are selfless and enjoy the game in its purest form. They make it about the players, they make it about the environment, so it was really an easy choice.”"
Westbrook was of course asked about what Durant said, with what could be perceived as a shot at the Thunder organization and specifically Westbrook himself. Westbrook pulled no punches with his response.
Westbrook clearly has had enough of questions about Durant and the Warriors, which obviously won’t prevent them from coming as long as he’s offering good soundbites. The honesty is refreshing though, while clearly pointing to a not-so-great relationship between Durant and Westbrook were teammates.
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The Russell Westbrook 2016-17 “vengeance tour”, with Durant’s departure as the central motivation, probably didn’t need any extra fuel. But Durant seems to have added some, however inadvertently. We won’t have to wait long for a direct on-court reaction from Westbrook though, with the first Thunder-Warriors game of the season coming on Nov. 3.