When Kevin Durant left the Thunder for the Warriors, a big part of the fallout was speculation that Russell Westbrook could follow him out the door in free agency one year later. Russ ended that speculation (or at least pushed it back a year or two) by signing an extension in Oklahoma City on Thursday, and from there the battle lines have officially been drawn: It’s Russ’ loyalty vs. Kevin Durant’s… whatever you want to call it.
Westbrook is pretty well known for holding grudges — just ask Reggie Jackson — and if you were wondering how he’d react to KD leaving, well, you probably won’t be surprised. From Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical:
When Russell Westbrook traveled to Oklahoma City to meet with general manager Sam Presti in the aftermath of the franchise’s lost weekend in the Hamptons, Westbrook held no interest for a post-mortem on Kevin Durant. For a front office still mired in angst and anger, Westbrook delivered a sobering splash of ice water: What’s next?
No nostalgia, no reflection and no regret: In Westbrook’s world, Durant had been deleted like his old teammate’s text message saying goodbye on the way to Golden State.
It’s just like Russ to give perhaps a dismissive sniff at the news, then turn around and focus his white-hot intensity on beating Durant. And in case the language isn’t clear, yes, Wojnarowski definitely writes that Westbrook erased his former teammate’s farewell text from his phone.
Are you excited to watch the Thunder take on the Warriors yet?
(Via The Vertical)
