Kevin Durant and the Warriors are set to square off against Russell Westbrook and the Thunder on Thursday night, which will mark the first time the former teammates will face one another since Durant signed with Golden State during the offseason. The two players have exchanged verbal barbs during the preseason, though some of these comments may have been taken out of context. The Slim Reaper sat down with Sam Amick of USA Today and Anthony Slater of The Mercury News to try and clear the air and separate fact from fiction. Both articles are certainly worth a look, but here are some of the highlights:
On if it bothers him that all he and Westbrook accomplished together is forgotten while the focus is squarely on the pair’s perceived “beef” with one another:
“It just shows the way of the world right now. Like, a beef? Bro, I don’t beef with nobody. I’ve seen beefs go the wrong way. We’ve all seen it. The wrong way – real life wrong way, so you can’t say beef around me. I’m not into no basketball beef. Where me or Russ comes from [Seat Pleasant, Md. and Los Angeles, respectively], beef – you don’t just throw that word around like that. We have a miscommunication going on between a lot of people, a lot of assumptions – you can say that. But a beef? Nah, there ain’t no beef man. I’m living my life. He’s living his. He’s doing his job. I’m doing mine. It’s unnecessary that you have a poll about what they’re going to say when they see each other. That’s what little kids do at the lunch table at elementary school. Like, c’mon man. Everybody’s going to say I’m ranting or I need to shut up, but you’re asking me these questions so obviously I’m going to answer them as well as I can … I ain’t got no beef with nobody.”
On the complaints that all he did was text Westbrook, rather than talk to him about his decision to leave:
“Yeah, you know, I understand that. I understand that. That’s something me and him will talk about. I’m not saying I’m right. I’m not saying I did it the right way. I’m owning up to that. We’re not going to go through this in the media though. I’m not going to say I should’ve did this, should’ve did that. We’ll figure our differences out as men 1-on-1. He’s doing his job right now and he’s doing a helluva job. And I’m doing my job. Of course we’re not going to talk every day. But like I said, I don’t care what y’all say, fans in OKC, media, whoever. We’re going through a tough time right now in our relationship. But we’re brothers at the end of the day. When I say that, where I come from, I mean it. You know what I’m saying? Every time I got into it with the media [during my Thunder days] or whoever, it was never over me. It was always over someone I was riding with, my teammates or my coach. So that should tell you enough.”
On Kendrick Perkins‘ comments that he and Westbrook didn’t value each other enough during their time together:
“That’s bull****, too. I love Perk. I respect Perk. But that’s his opinion. He wasn’t there the last two years, or the last year-and-a-half. We valued each other. I went out of my way during games, ‘Throw it down there to Russ, get a basket!’ He went out of his way to toss it back to me for dunks. We valued each other. I chose a different path. I chose to go somewhere else and that has nothing to do with Russell or how we were on the court. Nah. I just chose to go a different way.”
On if he expects to be friends with Westbrook in the future:
“This basketball [expletive] is fake, man. It’s not real life. I love it. I go to work every day. I work hard every day. But when you’re talking about off the court stuff, that [expletive] is not real. What would I look like being mad at somebody for 20 years? Or having a feud with anyone for 20 years? Hell yeah, if I’m getting married, he’s getting an invite. If I go to the Hall of Fame, he’s getting an invite. Even if he don’t accept it. Basketball beef, I’m not on that. Where I come from, we don’t play around with that. So I’m not into that basketball beef. When we’re on the court, of course we’re going to compete. He’s going to come at us, I’m going to come at them. Their whole team going to come at us and vice versa. But nothing more. And I don’t expect nothing less. But outside the court, all this other stuff, c’mon man. What we talking about? Don’t come to me trying to have us feuding, or any NBA player for that matter. Between the lines, I’m going to do me and they’re going to do them. Off the court, I don’t have that much energy to be wasting beefing with anybody. If you don’t like me, you got an opinion on what I did, I respect you. I got love for you. Because I know the grind, I know how hard it is to get here.”
On if Thursday night’s game will be emotional for him:
“Hell yeah it will be. Yeah, it’s going to be emotional, seeing people on the sideline that I haven’t seen in a while. Yeah, it’s definitely going to be emotional, but I’ve got a job to do. I’ve got to go out there and be me in between the lines. I’d be a fraud if I go out there and say, ‘No, it’s not going to mean nothing. It’s just another game.’ It’s not. It’s not another game.”
On if he has watched any Thunder games this season and his thoughts on Westbrook’s play thus far:
“Yeah, he’s controlling the game. Rebounding, scoring, assisting. First off, I’m so happy for Steven Adams and Victor Oladipo to have that opportunity. That type of money is going to last for generations, so I’m super happy for them. It’s great that they’re fulfilling a lifelong dream, first to play in the NBA but also financially being stable. First off, I’m happy for them. But I’m definitely watching. The stuff that I’ve been through with that team and that organization, that stuff doesn’t just go away. I said that in July when I made this decision. It don’t just go away, so I’ve got nothing but love for everybody there. Everybody. No matter how they feel about me, everybody on Oklahoma City, on that team, of course I watch them. I support them. I want them to do well.”