Kevin Durant may finally be extending an olive branch to his former co-star.
The new Houston Rockets star Durant appeared this week on FanDuel TV’s “Up & Adams.” During the interview, Durant was asked about his former teammate Russell Westbrook, who remains an unsigned free agent, and made some notable comments in response.
“Russ is a legend,” said Durant. “I think he deserves to be in the NBA right now. I think he deserves to walk out of the NBA on his terms.
“Yeah, that would be dope,” Durant added of the potential of Westbrook joining him on the Rockets.
Durant and Westbrook were teammates on the Oklahoma City Thunder for nine seasons from 2008-16 and even made it to the NBA Finals together in 2012. But their relationship soured when Durant left in free agency to sign with the Golden State Warriors in 2016 (after just losing to the Warriors in that year’s Western Conference Finals).
While Durant went on to win two NBA championships with Golden State, Westbrook had a nice run of his own as the undisputed No. 1 on the Thunder, even winning NBA MVP in 2017. The two would also butt heads on the court multiple times in the following years.
After Durant left OKC, Westbrook notably stated that the two were not on speaking terms. But in more recent years, Westbrook had seemingly let go of the grudge a bit.
When comes to the Rockets, Westbrook might not be the best fit right now given that Houston already employs several other non-shooters such as Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun. But it appears that his past feud with Durant will not be any hindrance to whatever potential there is of a Westbrook return to the Rockets in 2025.
