ESPN’s Royce Young recently claimed that Kevin Durant told Russell Westbrook that he was going to stay with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Young later took back what he said, claiming that he “misspoke,” and that Durant had not directly said those words, but that he left Westbrook with the impression that he would stay. Instead, Durant, signed with the Golden State Warriors.
When asked about what Young originally said, Durant said that he never told Westbrook that he would stay. From Yahoo’s Shams Charania:
“It’s false,” Durant told The Vertical on Thursday. “I didn’t say that – words about me telling Russell or Nick that I would stay or leave never came out of my mouth. We met as teammates, but no promises came out of it. In this day and age, I can’t control anything people claim out there. Someone can go out and say something random right now, and people will believe it.
“I never told Russell or Nick [Collison], ‘All right, guys, I’m coming back to the Thunder’ – and then a week later, I decide not to. Never happened. I don’t operate like that. I heard people say that story, but it’s not the truth.”
In a quiet corner before USA Basketball’s practice at the United Center, Durant admitted he has heard – and refutes – the perception that he turned his back on Westbrook and his former Thunder teammates. “There were never promises given in a meeting before July,” he told The Vertical. “I went through the process.”
After the Olympics in Rio, Durant will join the Golden State Warriors — a team that won 73 games last year — for the 2016-17 NBA season. Durant has no worries about his fit on the Warriors:
“I’m not coming into a team where a guy is playing my position and we have try to fit in two guys playing the same position,” Durant told The Vertical. “I’m not coming in trying to play the point guard, trying to play the shooting guard. I’m a small forward. The team didn’t have a small forward when I signed. Steph, Klay, Draymond, the bigs, we all play different positions.
“Whether it’s minutes, shots, opportunities, any good team will have players sacrificing. That’s the nature of the game. I’m not coming into a game saying that I need my 18 shots and I need to get to the line 12 times. I let the game flow naturally.”
