Kevin Durant’s decision made waves on Monday. The former Oklahoma City Thunder star shocked everyone by announcing he was leaving the team he had spent his entire career with.
Most assumed that Durant was going to the Golden State Warriors for a chance to win. That certainly seems to be the case. Armed with two top-three players and two more all-stars, the Warriors are a force to be reckoned with.
But Durant’s decision may have been caused, at least in part, by something other than the Dubs’ dominance. In a feature written by Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck, it becomes evident that Durant may have been frustrated by his point guard Russell Westbrook:
For the last eight seasons, Durant’s fate has been intertwined with that of Russell Westbrook, a dazzling, fire-breathing, occasionally maddening point guard who sometimes forgets he has teammates—including a guy with an MVP trophy and four scoring titles.
Their partnership produced four conference finals appearances, and one trip to the Finals, in the last six years. It also produced a simmering frustration that, in essence, paved the way for his exit.
Durant wanted an offense that kept the ball moving and provided him easier scoring chances. The Thunder fired coach Scott Brooks, brought in Billy Donovan, and still the offense stalled out at key moments, often with Westbrook dribbling into oblivion. The Thunder led the NBA in blown fourth-quarter leads last season, despite their firepower.
“Ultimately he got frustrated and felt that they had plateaued,” said a person with insight into Durant’s thought process. “[Donovan] came in, and he still had the same issues that he had with Russ under Scotty. 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.”
This is a pretty wild indictment of Westbrook, albeit an unsurprising one. The Thunder point guard has been criticized for his penchant of playing out of control many times before. His emphatic dribbling, unnecessary shot selection, and wild drives into the paint are certainly frustrating, especially when the shots don’t go down.
But to hear it as a primary reason of Durant’s departure is unexpected. The two Thunder stars were often cited as best friends. Durant defended the point guard in the media time after time.
However, it is also easy to see that KD could have had plenty of frustrations building internally. In joining the Warriors, Kevin Durant is choosing a team built on the premise of ball and player movement. He did not have that in OKC and Westbrook was a huge reason why.
We obviously do not know what went through Durant’s head as he made this tough decision. But it appears as though frustrations with Westbrook’s style of play at least had a role in the choice he made.
