Russell Westbrook's path of destruction leaves no room for peace with Durant
If Durant wants this feud to end, he might be waiting a while
By
Matt Moore
•
5 min read
"Everything ends badly, otherwise it wouldn't end." - Brian Flannagan, Cocktail (1988)
Kevin Durant wants it all. Russell Westbrook cares for none of it.
In the past few days, Durant has done multiple one-on-one interviews, talking about his love of Oklahoma City and Westbrook, about how they're still "brothers," and about how there is no beef. He explained his decision to join the Warriors last July as mostly being about finding out who he is as he matures. Durant very much wants there to be no problem with the city, or his former teammate. That's not a bad thing. It's admirable, even, especially his vulnerability and willingness to discuss his decision.
Westbrook, on the other hand, got tired of the "he said (x), what do you think about that" line of questions a few weeks ago and has shut down everything. He's not answering questions about Durant anymore. This did not stop him from releasing the Jordan Brand ad over the summer that seemed a suspiciously passive-aggressive shot at Durant's departure, nor posting various songs with specific themes that seemed to reflect his feelings on the split.
We'll never know what Durant and Westbrook's relationship really was. The Thunder, Durant included, fed us one message, consistently, for six years. The two were close, brothers, friends, partners in crime. Then the day after -- not 24 hours after Durant released his love letter to himself in announcing the decision to join Golden State in the Player's Tribune -- a story surfaced in Bleacher Report that Westbrook's style of play and ball dominance had driven Durant away.
Durant openly denied having planted that story, and indeed, it seems extremely unlikely that was the case. Nor, of course, does it seem like the work of the Warriors, who had won the fight and had no need of giving OKC that swing on the way to the mat, and it sure wasn't anyone in OKC. NBA superstars are not isolated entities. They come with advisors, friends, confidantes, managers, publicists. Somewhere in there, someone decided to angle Durant's decision as Westbrook's fault.
The two meet for the first time as opponents on Thursday in Oracle Arena, and it's clear that Durant wants everything to be copacetic. It matters to him. It's been very clear early on that he's not comfortable with the villain role he's assumed. He's vacillated between trying to ignore it, and awkwardly trying to embrace it with sneers. Durant moved on, and he wants everything to be cool.
Unfortunately, that's a two-way street. Westbrook may legitimately not care about Durant or his decision. Trying to psychoanalyze a player is tough enough when it isn't one of the most recalcitrant superstars in the world, as Westbrook is. But at the most, Durant no longer matters to him. Thunder sources made a similar effort as those "sources" in the Durant article, trying to paint Westbrook as the one who always embraced the franchise. His decision to sign an extension with the team this summer seemed indicative of that. Regardless of however long Westbrook is in Oklahoma, there is one trend that remains.
You're either with Westbrook ... or you're going to discover his wrath.
He's been a blistering force of nature early on this season. The Thunder enter Thursday's contest as the last undefeated team in the West -- who saw that coming?-- and that comes on the back of Westbrook averaging 37.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 10.8 assists per game, while also averaging six turnovers. He is everything everyone hoped he would be so far. Reckless, indestructible, and somehow, simultaneously, a brilliant playmaker, passer and ball hog. He's a monster, in every sense of the word.
Westbrook's "theme song" has been "Now I Do What I Want" by Lil Uzi Vert. It perfectly encapsulates his mindset and situation. He won't be hammered into preconceived notions. For years, we assumed that Durant would stay in Oklahoma City, the town and community he so lovingly talked about, while Westbrook, the Californian aspiring fashion mogul, would be the one to eventually depart. Instead, Westbrook is the one embracing the team's identity and leadership role, while Durant went to be another piece of a larger machine in Golden State, deferring at times to Stephen Curry as he did in the third quarter of the Warriors' get-back-on-track win vs. Portland.
Westbrook refuses to be defined by media narratives, fan expectations, or anything else. He won't be put into a box by Durant's decision, painted as the wounded soul lashing out at Durant for abandoning him. He's just Westbrook, now, unleashed.
Westbrook's odds of earning a victory over Golden State Thursday are not good. Despite a quality win vs. the Clippers Wednesday, the Thunder are on a west coast road trip back-to-back, facing a team with four superstars to his one, with a squad that is only undefeated vs. a motley crew of teams (Phoenix, Philadelphia, the Lakers) because of his individual box score mushroom cloud. Any rational observer will tell you that the most likely outcome of this matchup, and any potential future matchups all the way through May, will be a comfortable Warriors victory.
But that's the thing. Durant doesn't get to decide how it ends. Westbrook gets his say, too. And just as Durant's olive branch to his former buddy, squad, and city do nothing to cool tensions there, any individual loss doesn't stop the overall story. Russell Westbrook is on his own now, he does what he wants, and personal vendetta or no personal vendetta, he won't stop coming after Kevin Durant and the Thunder.
Even if Durant wins this game, and gets past the chorus of boos awaiting him in Oklahoma City on February 11 and March 3, that doesn't end this. A playoff matchup doesn't seem out of the question in the first or second round, and even then, these two will play one another year after year.
Westbrook's not going to stop coming after the Warriors, after the Spurs, after the NBA, after the title. Neither are the rest of the Thunder, who it turns out might be a pretty good team still. Durant's going to be facing old ghosts over and over again, even if the emotions will fade in time. Things aren't over when Durant says they are, even if his intentions are admirable.
Of course things ended badly. Otherwise they wouldn't have ended.
