Kevin Durant Comments on Relationship with Russell Westbrook
Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant took an opportunity Friday to quell any rumors that his relationship with teammate Russell Westbrook is anything but good.
Speaking with the Oklahoman's Anthony Slater, Durant described that he and Westbrook are "like family."
"There’s times we cuss each other out, but that’s a part of being brothers," Durant said. "Because I know if I need something, he’ll be there, and if I need to talk to someone outside of basketball, he’ll be there. It’s a real brotherhood-type relationship."
Durant also explained there are times when the two don't agree.
"There’s times where we go at it," Durant said. "There’s times I don’t like what he’s doing out on the court, there’s times where he hates what I’m doing out on the court. There’s times where it’s Russ, you gotta control your attitude, or KD, you gotta stop, you gotta speak up, whatever."
Westbrook has developed over his career into a second dangerous scoring threat on the Thunder to complement Durant. Westbrook, who has played in five more games this season, is averaging 2.4 more field-goal attempts per game than Durant.
Westbrook had to carry Oklahoma City last season when Durant appeared in only 27 games due to injury. As the Thunder's main man, he won a scoring title, averaging 28.1 points per game. Durant is a four-time scoring champion himself.
Durant also addressed those outside the organization who believe Westbrook's shot selection is causing tension between the two:
"How can you tell? That’s my whole question. What are you basing that off of? Because he shoots more than I do one game? That don’t make no sense. We don’t like each other because he shot more? That don’t make no sense. And it’s really disrespectful to me or to us because you think I’m that selfish of a person.
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Durant's five-year, $89.2 million contract, per Spotrac.com will expire after the 2015-16 season as speculation has swirled on whether he'll stay in Oklahoma City. But if he does leave the Thunder, it doesn't seem like it will be because of his relationship with Westbrook.
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.
