3x All Star Suggests Kevin Durant Is Envious Of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander And ‘Inflated’ Thunder Narratives

Joseph Galizia | 06/06/2025
Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) go for the ball during the second quarter at Footprint Center

Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals was nothing short of an absolute spectacle. All eyes are now on the OKC Thunder to see if they can respond to the rude awakening that’s been bestowed upon them by Rick Carlisle’s boys. If they do and ending up winning a title, it will cement this Thunder team as the greatest in history. Meaning, their place in the echelons of the franchise’s history would higher than the famed squad with Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook.

Gilbert Arenas spoke on this subject while streaming Game 1 on his No Chill Gil stream. One of the three-time All-Star’s co-hosts wondered of Harden, Russ, and KD were rooting for this 25 Thunder team.

“I honestly believe that KD rooting for the Thunder,” said one host, who cited Durant’s history with the Thunder franchise and them never winning the big one as the core reason. But Arenas wasn’t necessarily sure about that narrative.

“He rooting for em, but he ain’t ‘rooting for em’,” claimed Gil. When he received a bit of pushback, he explained that Durant probably would be envious of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander erasing him from Thunders’ fans’ minds. “Not when motherf***ers say if OKC win and Shai wins Finals MVP he’s the best OKC player ever. He just wiping me out. You rooting but you ain’t rooting,” he added.

There have been plenty instances where Gil has made blanket statements with no proof or backing. This seems to be one of those cases. Durant has proven himself to be quite the nonchalant man when it comes to his place amongst the ranks in the NBA.

He’s, self admittedly, happy with just “money, buckets, and girls”. Though, if the team that drafts him wins, it wouldn’t be a shock in the slightest to see him show them love.

Not to mention, Durant is a big SGA fan. Back in February, he openly praised the 2025 MVP during an interview with Meta World Peace.

“He one of those dudes that’s always gonna put that ball through the rim,” said the 15-time All-Star. “Watching him, just knowing that he’s gonna be efficient with it, it’s just a fun watch.”

“He hit you with so many different moves that you know he put time in on. He play like he care about his stance and his place in the game… I appreciate watching him because he gets buckets all types of ways.”

And SGA shares that same love toward Durant. In May, shortly after he was announced as the Most Valuable Player of the year, he spoke with the OKC Thunder Wire on what it meant to share that accolade with fellow Thunder MVPS, Durant and Russ.

“I know Kevin and I know Russell. I know the kids they were, and they just dreamed and worked hard and got to this position, and so did I. Nobody has it better than the Thunder. To be gifted three superstars when most NBA franchises would love to have one every couple of decades is a testament to OKC’s work.”

Respect goes a long way in the NBA. Remembering the words that these two future Hall of Famers spoke about each other should more than prove that Gil is a bit too attached to wanting to create headlines.

Post Edited By: Samir Mehdi
Gilbert Arenas Kevin Durant Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

About the author

Joseph Galizia

Joseph is a Las Vegas based actor and circus performer. For the last seven years he's had the pleasure of covering sports for multiple outlets, including the Lifestyles section of Sports Illustrated. In that time, he's conducted over 50 interviews with athletes, filmmakers, and company founders to further cement his footprint in the journalism world. He's excited to bring that skillset to the SportsRush, where he'll be covering the NBA news cycle.

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