The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the midst of perhaps their most important playoff run with this core. Having already beaten the 67-win Spurs and having taken the 73-win Warriors to the brink of elimination, this may be the best chance the team has had to win the title.
If the Thunder are eliminated in game seven of the Western Conference Finals, the attention of the team will turn to the composition of its roster. Kevin Durant is a free agent this summer. Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka will hit the open market next year. A core that has been together for years and has had success could potentially be broken apart.
That core has cemented itself as an NBA fan favorite. The relationship between Durant and Westbrook, especially, has been well-marked and despite rumors about the two not getting along, their friendship has stayed the course and become a pleasant part of the Thunder’s makeup.
The relationship is not contained to just that duo, however. The friendship has spread to the rest of the team and even the assistants and equipment managers.
At no point has that team chemistry been more prevalent than when the trio of KD, Russ, and Nick Collison helped a longtime equipment manager propose to his girlfriend.
In a profile written by Sam Amick of USA TODAY Sports, Wilson Taylor, recounts the elaborate proposal planned by him and his longtime friends within the team, with each player helping to give “clues” to his girlfriend as she traveled through a scavenger hunt she did not know she was part of. The end result: Kevin Durant giving the final assist as 12 Thunder players joined in to celebrate the engagement.
Taylor had high praise for the players who have become his best friends:
“It’s the way they carry themselves,” Taylor said. “I don’t know other superstars, but these guys are first in the gym every day, and they’re just top notch guys. I consider them my best friends, and I want the best for my best friends, not just for myself. That’s how I look at it. Those three guys (Durant, Westbrook, and Collison) are some of my best friends, and with what they put into it, I just feel like they deserve to be champions.”
Time will tell whether that trio will ever win a championship together. But they have have become easy to root for players and their friendship has been a great story to follow them for the entirety of their respective careers.
