Somebody (I guess possibly multiple somebodies) on the Oklahoma City Thunder isn’t cool with Kevin Durant after the superstar forward left OKC for Golden State last summer. Thunder big man Enes Kanter appeared on the Timeout with Taylor Rooks podcast to tell the story of one of his teammates obsessing over Kanter being with Durant (Transcribed by TheScore):
“I’m not going to tell who, but one of my teammates, a couple of weeks before that scrimmage game, said ‘if I see one picture with you and KD,’ because he knows that KD lives in the same apartment (complex) as me, ‘don’t come back to OKC,'” Kanter said on “Timeout with Taylor Rooks” on Thursday.
“I’m not going to tell who, but he said that.”
So, the 25-year-old asked the organizer to make sure to put him on James’ team. His request was initially granted, as he played with the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar, as well as Dahntay Jones and Lance Thomas. However, their squad lost to Durant, J.R. Smith, Carmelo Anthony, and others, before Kanter was placed on a team with Durant.
Kanter said he received a call 45 minutes after the session from the teammate who had told him not to be seen with Durant, and was interrogated on whether or not he spoke to the All-NBA forward.
He did.
The center admitted on the podcast he was scared of what the other teammate would say about him being civil with Durant, and even high-fiving him. And despite some of the shade he’s thrown, Kanter said he’s cool with KD, and he respects him as a top-five player in the NBA. (Meanwhile, he claims J.R. Smith and Brandon Jennings are the best players in pickup basketball.)
Kanter also said he’s really excited about the Thunder’s offseason moves, especially the addition of Paul George, whom he thinks will help the club return to the Western Conference finals.
Russell Westbrook seems like too obvious of a pick here, but maybe it is him. Really, the only players on the Thunder that I would think have the sort of stature to boss Kanter around, aside from Westbrook, are Paul George (who wasn’t there when Durant left), and Steven Adams (maybe? Seems out of character). Maybe it was Andre Roberson? There’s not really any point in speculating, I guess. Still, this story is very interesting; I wonder who it was that forbade Kanter from hanging out with his former teammate.
