Kevin Durant says that the hardest phone call he’s ever had to make in his life came when he informed Thunder officials that he was signing with the Golden State Warriors.
I think that speaks volumes — considering the nine-years, and countless All-Star or postseason games played with Russell Westbrook.
We’ve always speculated as fans and analyst, about whether Westbrook and Durant’s on court relationship was the major reason KD decided to bolt.
During his introductory press conference in Oakland — Durant referred to Westbrook as his “friend” and stated that his former Thunder teammate obviously wasn’t happy.
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“Obviously it’s tough. We were teammates for so long and had a lot of great memories. I’m sure he wasn’t happy about the decision. But he respected it as my friend,” Durant said during his introductory press conference on Thursday.”
“And the relationship was great. You know, we had great years, man. It’s something that you’ll never take away from us. But, like I said, I wanted a new chapter in my life. I felt like it was time for it, and I made this decision. I couldn’t consider totally everybody’s feelings at this point because it’ll be hard to. So I just tried to focus on me but also realize the relationships that I had I still wanted those to be.”
Durant was clearly frustrated about the decision-making of Westbrook at times, and jumped at the opportunity to display his entire game — at his most efficient — in Golden State.
The idea that he had no interest in considering “everybody’s feelings” — aka Russell Westbrook — speaks volumes about where Durant was at mentally when it came to continuing to play with the fiery point guard.
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