OAKLAND, Calif. _ Kevin Durant said he has spoken to former Oklahoma City co-star Russell Westbrook since deciding to leave the Thunder to sign with the Warriors.
"It's tough," Durant said Thursday at his introductory press conference. "Obviously we were teammates for so long and I had a lot of great memories. I'm sure he wasn't happy about the decision, but he respected it as my friend."
Together, the two made one trip to the NBA Finals and three other trips to the Western Conference finals.
Since Durant agreed to terms with the Warriors, reports emerged of some fracturing in his relationship with Westbrook. Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical said on his podcast that Westbrook was among the Thunder players bothered by Durant's relationship with Draymond Green. Bleacher Report's Howard Beck reported that there was frustration with Westbrook on Durant's part as well.
"Ultimately, he got frustrated and felt that they had plateaued," a person with insight into Durant's thought process told Bleacher Report. "(Coach Billy Donovan) came in, and he still had the same issues that he had with Russ under Scotty (Brooks). The offense didn't change much. He still had to take a ton of contested shots every game; and that's when he had the ball at all."
Durant said his relationship with Westbrook was great.
"You know, we had great years, something that you'll never take away from us," Durant said. "But like I said, I wanted a new chapter in my life. I felt like it was time for it, and I made the decision. I couldn't consider totally everybody's feelings at this point because it would 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 _ I'm sure they won't be the same, but I still wanted to go out there and leave with some class and some dignity, but hopefully I did, hopefully he understands, and I'm sure we'll talk again."
