Speculation always surrounded the on-court relationship between Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, with a power struggle seemingly brewing between the two to determine which was the alpha dog of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Thunder are now unequivocally Westbrook's team following Durant's decision to sign with the Golden State Warriors. By doing so, the four-time scoring champion split one of the league's most dominant tandems of this generation, likely a fatal blow to the team's chances of bringing the organization its first championship since the days of the SuperSonics.
Durant understands that Westbrook doesn't agree with his choice to head to the Bay Area from a basketball standpoint, but is appreciative that he received his blessing as a friend.
"Obviously it's tough. We were teammates for so long and had a lot of great memories. I'm sure he wasn't happy about the decision. But he respected it as my friend," Durant said during his introductory press conference on Thursday."
"And the relationship was great. You know, we had great years, man. It's something that you'll never take away from us. But, like I said, I wanted a new chapter in my life. I felt like it was time for it, and I made this decision. I couldn't consider totally everybody's feelings at this point because it'll 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."
Durant is a far more efficient scorer and shooter than Westbrook, but wound up with a slightly lower usage rate (30.6) than him (31.6) in 72 appearances last season. His frustration with how the offense was being run under new head coach Billy Donovan, forcing Durant to take a ton of contested shots while Westbrook had the ball in his hands more often than not, was reportedly one of the reasons why he decided to leave.
The two led OKC to six playoff appearances together, including a spot in the NBA Finals in 2012. Their most demoralizing defeat came last season when the Thunder blew a 3-1 series lead in the Western Conference finals to the Warriors.
