During the OKC-Mavs playoffs series in 2016, Mark Cuban stated that Kevin Durant was a superstar, and Russell Westbrook wasn’t.
Advertisement
Way before Kevin Durant joined Stephen Curry and co. at the Golden State Warriors and instantly became the most hated figure in the league, The Durantula spent 9 years with the Seattle SuperSonic/Oklahoma City Thunder. During his almost decade-long stint with the Thunder, KD was teammates with several players. However, one of the greatest players he paired up with was Russell Westbrook.
KD and Russ had a solid brother-like bond, before turning into enemies after the former’s move to GSW. The two were inseparable off the court and were near unstoppable on the hardwood.
Also Read: Kevin Durant is stunned by the celebrations of Olympiacos fans in Greece
This one time, the 2014 MVP displayed his love for Beastbrook by defending him from Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban.
During the 2016 playoffs, Cuban wasn’t ready to call Russell a “superstar”, to which Kevin went on to call the billionaire an “idiot”.
“I consider Kevin Durant a superstar, Russell Westbrook is certainly an All-Star”: Mark Cuban
Before Game 5 of OKC’s playoffs series, Mark Cuban reasoned why he didn’t consider Westbrook a “superstar”. Cuban told the reporter:
“I think he’s (Westbrook) an All-Star but not a superstar.”
“Russell’s certainly an All-Star, but I consider Durant a superstar. You look at Dirk all those years to now, he carries teams to 50 wins. To me, that’s (what makes a superstar) … when you by yourself … it wasn’t until we got J-Kidd (Jason Kidd) that we had another Hall of Famer. So, to go the 15 years where Dirk won 50, that’s a superstar. There’s only a few guys that you put them on any team and they’ll win 50 games. To me that’s the definition of a superstar.”
Transcript of @realmarkcuban saying Russell Westbrook is an All-Star, but no superstar: https://t.co/JYZ7gbfTxw pic.twitter.com/t39NLbKDEJ
— Erik Horne (@ErikkHorne) April 25, 2016
When asked Westbrook to give two cents on Cuban’s take, Durant stepped in, and defended his teammate by calling Cuban an “idiot”. KD said:
“He’s an idiot. Don’t listen to him.”
Also Read: When Charles Barkley roasted the Lakers’ star for his fashion sense
Mark’s words surely must’ve set Russ off, as ended the night with an explosive 36-point, 12-rebound, and 9-assist near triple-double leading the Thunder to a 118-104 Game 5 win.
