Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook had a great relationship up until 2016, the year Durant made the infamous move to leave the Thunder and join the Golden State Warriors.
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After the 2015-16 season when the Warriors went 73-9 and lost the NBA title, the incoming free agency would be the most important free agency period in NBA history.
However, nobody had any idea at the time. Kevin Durant was going to be a free agent, but most signs pointed to him signing with the OKC Thunder again, or perhaps, joining his hometown team, the Washington Wizards.
Nobody could have predicted that Durant was going to join the best regular season of all time. There’s no way he’d join the team that just beat him in the playoffs right before the Finals, right?
The rumor train started to chug, however, and suddenly on July 4th, 2016, the unthinkable happened. Durant was a Golden State Warrior, and the NBA was permanently changed.
For the next four years, the Warriors ruled the NBA. Durant was made to be the villain of the league, and there was nobody who could stop the Warriors except themselves.
The Golden State dynasty came tumbling to an end due to injuries and some feuds in the final season which led to Durant’s exit from the team.
Kendrick Lamar referenced Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in his song
During Durant’s stint with the Warriors, there was one notable relationship that was affected. Of course, Durant and Westbrook had been running mates in OKC all along, and when Durant made the move to join GSW, it seemed like he was backstabbing Westbrook.
Their relationship simmered, and it came to a boil when the two met up against each other. There was a lot of trash-talking, and there was some head-butting. Quite literally, the two couldn’t stand each other.
Kendrick Lamar quoted the two in his song, The Heart Part 4:
“Tables turned, lessons learned, my best look
You jumped sides on me, now you ’bout to meet Westbrook
Go celebrate with your team and let victory vouch you
Just know the next game played, I might slap the (expletive) out you
Technical foul, I’m flagrant, I’m foul
They throwin’ me out, you throw in the towel”
It summed everything up perfectly.
Durant and Westbrook made up
Despite the fact that tensions rose that high, the two were eventually able to make peace. They started communicating, and there wasn’t as much head-banging anymore.
They even linked up for a sick alley-oop.
Both them and the league have moved on from the dark days of the Warriors, and now, things are all good.
