Video: Kevin Durant Says 'I Always Loved Playing with' Russell Westbrook and Harden

It's been nearly a dozen years since the Oklahoma City Thunder broke up its trio of future MVPs by trading James Harden to the Houston Rockets, but Kevin Durant still looks back fondly on the days the young superstars developed together.

Durant discussed the trio's days in Oklahoma City after Monday night's game against the Los Angeles Clippers, who feature a reunited Harden and Westbrook:

Durant, Westbrook and Harden played together from 2009 to 2012, emerging as one of the best Big Threes ever drafted by a team in NBA history. The small-market Thunder traded Harden to Houston after a 2012 NBA Finals run in a move that was largely based on a breakdown in contract extension talks.

Harden, who won the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award in 2012, would blossom into one of the premier scorers of this generation. He won the 2018 NBA MVP and made seven All-NBA teams in Houston, crafting a Hall of Fame resume that arguably would not have been possible if he stayed with the Thunder.

Ironically, Harden's MVP came a year after Westbrook's, who won MVP in 2017 following Durant's departure for Golden State.

Harden would reunite with Westbrook for one season in Houston during the 2019-20 season and then with Durant with the Brooklyn Nets for parts of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 campaigns. Westbrook and Harden reunited for a second time earlier this season when the Philadelphia 76ers traded the latter to Los Angeles.

The reunions never reached the same heights as their Thunder iteration, as they've never returned to the Finals together. Durant is the only one of the trio to win an NBA championship, taking home two in his three years with the Warriors.

More than a decade later, it's fair to say the Durant-Westbrook-Harden Thunder remain one of the biggest "what ifs" in NBA history.