Thursday, December 29th, 2011 at 11:45 am  |  97 responses

Kevin Durant Downplays Heated Altercation With Russell Westbrook


by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

Russell Westbrook had a terrible night during the OKC Thunder’s thrilling win in Memphis. The point guard didn’t connect on any of his 13 field goal attempts, and he forced up many bad shots to boot.

Most interestingly, Westbrook got into a heated argument with Kevin Durant during a second-quarter timeout.

According to Durant, even though this isn’t the first time he’s had a yelling match with Westbrook in a public setting, the latest incident between the two Thunder stars is nothing to get too worked up over.

Reports the Oklahoman:

Westbrook’s frustration appeared to have started with just 3 1/2 minutes remaining in the second quarter when he drove into the paint and kicked the ball out to Thabo Sefolosha in the corner. Sefolosha passed up a wide open 3-pointer, which prompted Westbrook to yell at Sefolosha “shoot the (expletive) ball.” Sefolosha and other teammates, including Durant and center Kendrick Perkins attempted to calm Westbrook down immediately during an ensuing trip to the free throw line. But the emotions spilled over to the bench one minute later.

Durant appeared to again settle Westbrook, but Westbrook appeared to take exception to how Durant delivered his message. The two began shouting at each other and had to be separated. Durant patted Westbrook on the head when the two took the court out of the timeout, and the two seemed to communicate well throughout the rest of the game. “We’re going to disagree sometimes, like I’ve always been saying,” Durant said. “But I’m behind him 110 percent, and he’s the same way with me. And you seen when we came on the floor we clicked and everything started to work from there.”

Russell Westbrook left the locker room before reporters could ask him about any of this.

This is the fourth season for the increasingly fascinating and fruitful Durant/Westbrook relationship. Both guys have always said that they want to continue working and playing together.

One factor to consider is that Russell Westbrook is (rightly) angling for a rich contract extension; it will be interesting to see what — if anything — OKC Thunder management and coaches do to address the dynamic between Kevin and Russ, as they move forward with such a critical decision on their point guard.

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  • iLL wiLL

    C’mon Wussell. This ain’t gonna help your chances at a big contract.

  • JEr dawg

    OKC get ready for stephon Marbury part II in Westbrook. You gonna lose him!

  • AD

    here we go again……… if he leaves who is durant goin to pass to besides harden.. this duo is probably the best in the nba. Okc wouldnt be as good without westbrook’s play….. westbrook is the driver, durant is the shooter… True NBA fans want to see this team win…. true stans wanna see TMZ altercations in the league ..smh……. Patience is key

  • Ldub20

    Russ is young. KD is young. Their playing styles at times dont mesh. It seems like RW feels he has to “score” to make his mark on the game. He has enough talent to average a trip dub and allow KD to get 30 plus. Whats wrong with 15,10 and 10? He would get more positive responses for that, that 0-13 and beefing. Boards and assists are just as important as points.

  • Ldub20

    @AD the best duo in the NBA? ummm did you forget about Bron and Wade? Id take them over Kd and Russ anyday.

  • Shecky Shabazz

    Russell needs to come to the Sixers. I’m sure we would give up Jrue, even though he’ll be a solid PG

  • Aizen

    Lol, this looks like the Wolves of the 90′s all over again. Smh…

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    If you have never fought with your teammates you have never played on a competitive team.

  • http://slam.online house

    Well Russell had an absolute shocker against Memphis but he should be thankful that his TEAM helped get it done. Mind you the buckets that he was taking (apart from a couple of very questionable shots) would normally fall on any other day.

  • http://www.facebook.com/joe.l.brewer3 BlackPhantom

    I kinda don’t understand the “Stephon Marbury 2.0″ comments. Russ and prime Starbury are pretty different.

  • http://knicks.com Gametimeweezy

    whenever he gets outplayed he gets all emotional like a punk

  • Bawse

    OKC isnt serious about winning. They should have tried and got Dwill or CP3 and traded Westbrook. He is a chucker.

  • tomtom

    Everybody hates on Russel, obv he had a bad game, but is 13 shot REALLY to many shots for your uber-talented 2nd best player?

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    Westbrook is a shooting guard trying to learn how to be a point. and 13 shots is even less then they would prolly want him too take. 15 is right where he should be.

  • tomtom

    @nbk absolutely.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR6ULRp3Uqk Overtime

    13 shot = absolutely not too much.

    The nature of these shots = different matter

  • AD

    @Ldub20 yes i’ll take durant/westbrook over lbj/dwade because durant/westbrook compliment eachother…. dwade/lbj both are the same player in different bodies because they both just stand around ,,…while westbrook can drive and kick to a sharp shooter… lbj/dwade may be better right now but if durant/westbrook stay together i think they can win multiple rings….

  • tomtom

    @overtime Did you watch the game!!? or are you just seeing lopsided reports?? Because i think 8 or 9 of those shots were totally fine, one was at the end of the clock and then a few frustration bricks. People like to make a big deal out of stuff and kiss there Skip Bayless bible every night, OKC will be right there, they ain’t going to win it all but that is on there weak front line. Nothing to do with Rus or KD.

  • milliondollarbackpack

    they need to move Russ to the 2 and let Maynor run the point

  • T-Money

    i don’t really get why they absolutely want russ to be a 1. he is bigger than monta ellis and had played the 2 his whole life before the nba – he will never be a natural. let him rock at the 2 and no one will ever complain about his shot selection. in fact, okc looked good at times in the playoffs when james harden was initiating the offense and russ was on the wing.

  • tomtom

    p.s. he shot 0-13 and had the confidence to ice it at the FT line…

  • Shecky Shabazz

    ^so true.

  • Ldub20

    @AD…
    russ/kd over wade/james? your point can be made on both sides. you claim they “compliment” each other better….I dont see that. Wade and James being the same player means better chemistry, they know where the other one wants to be, and likes the ball. If you were to replace Russ with Wade (as far as pg)…Wade would be x2 in everything. He is a better scorer, defender, shooter, free throw shooter, clutch player, And he damn near gets trip dubs. If they complimented each other better, why werent they in the finals? why has russ been taking so many bad shots (trying to put his stamp on the game)? They wont win any rings with Russ running point unless he changes his mindset as well as his emotions when things arent going his way. 0-13? really? dude is talented enuff to get to the cup and make a layup. His mind is what keeps him and his team down.

  • Jacqueline Mitchell

    Will this turn into “Kobe and Shaq: The Sequel”.

  • http://dodgers.com Joey E.

    it’s not Kevin, it’s Russell. I think they’ll be ok for now, though I do think Russell wants his own team. I saw the highlights, a few of the shots Russ just missed and they werent bad shots at all. the scary part is, they still won, beating a solid grizz team with russell going 0-13 and 4 points

  • http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

    JHarden is not a better PG than Russ.

  • Ldub20

    main difference is wade/james dont care who scores, as long as they get the win. RW is willing to let his team fail by taking shots he should be passing. If its not your night, its not your night. There are other ways to get involved. Lock up on D and dont let some rook take it coast to coast and lay it in. He was totally out of the game mentally. RING(S)? lmao..thats a joke. Not until Russ matures a bit more.

    No it wont turn to Shaq and Kobe. Their egos arent the massive size of Kobe and Shaqs.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Tarzan Cooper

    None of this would be happening had they drafted tyreke like they should have.

  • AD

    @Ldub20 wade replacing westbrook would be stupid because wade is def not a better pg … westbrook defends and gets trip doubles from time to time…. wade does not!! the thunder did not make it to the finals because their team is lacking championship talent at some positions…… teams win championships.. not duo’s….. a perfect example of this would be last years finals…….. Westbrook may turn the ball over a lot and may look to score more than pass but, the team has limited scoring and the thunder wouldnt be as good without him…. You say they won’t win any rings with him but you dont know that yet.. If it happens, let it happen but westbrook is still young and will learn …….

  • AD

    @tarzan tyreke and westbrook is the same type of player westbrook is better….. no debate!!

  • ctkennedy

    no Westbrook OKC have no shot at the title PERIOD ..Durant will make the playoffs n than go home…only 3pgs YOU would even consider for him ROSE,CP3,n DWILL ..n NONE of them comin ..so they better learn to make it work or Durant will leave OKC next

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    Harden might be a better playmaker then Russ, but he definitely isn’t a better PG. And Wade & LeBron are a much much better tandem then Westbrook and Durant. The Thunder are just a much more well rounded team, SO, they will be better at accentuating the strengths of their best players, then a team like Miami which (to this point) hasn’t had/used much flexibility. Except if Miami keeps playing at such a high pace, then you’ll see they are a better pair.

  • http://www.optimabbc.be Max

    Cosign nbk’s first comment.

  • http://slamonline.com datkid

    this whole thing is so overhyped. people disagree with each other sometimes. smh

  • http://www.slamonline.com Tarzan Cooper

    Ad is stupid. They are somewhat similar but not close enough to be a problem. Reke is much more of a pg.

  • http://www.facebook.com/joe.l.brewer3 BlackPhantom

    whoaaa, reke isnt close to westbrook? what you smokin.
    tyreke got that grown man game, and he runs the point a lot better than russ without a kevin durant.
    all that being said, i still love westbrooks game, even if he does act like a punk at times.

  • http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

    Reke is not a true PG, he’s a SG with the playmaking skills of a PG.

  • ctkennedy

    Westbrook is a top20 player n the league…no top player is comin to Okc to play …Bron couldnt get NOBODY to come to Cleveland n Durant aint gone get NOBODY to come to OKC…so they better just make it work …they got no other choice

  • http://bulls.com airs

    dammit why do i keep coming up as blackphantom

  • http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

    If Reke is such a good PG then why did SAC see it fit to go after 2 PGs in the draft?

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    Y’all think there are ball-hogging (not really a PG but he plays it) problems with Westbrook and you think it would be better with Tyreke Evans LMAO!!!!! Everyone realize Reke was criticized by his own teammates for being too selfish, and he was clearly the best player on the team. You think it won’t be even worse if he isn’t? lololol (not too mention Westbrook is a much better defender againt points then Evans is)

  • http://bulls.com airs

    reke was “ball hogging” cuz he was on the kings.
    the kings.
    he seems to have a better attitude than russ at this point and though i wouldn’t go as far as saying they should have drafted reke instead of westbrook, i could see reke on OKC working.

  • AD

    @nbk thank you he’s more like a sf

  • AD

    @tarzan…… im stupid hahaha good comeback…..

  • http://www.nba.com VanCityBBall

    even if russ did (which he did) have a bad night i would try to get him going… however in the 4th there should not be a single possetion that KD DOES NOT touch the ball and besides, Eric Maynor is arguably the best back up PG in the league so if Russ is not getting it done theres a solid person to fall back on

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    No he was ball-hogging because he’s kind of a ball-hog. Which is fine because he can get in the key against almost anyone. It’s just that he forces up long two’s way way too often. But so does Westbrook. It’s really the same problem.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    From J.A. Adande, today, “Culture is a big part of the Thunder program. They value fit over talent. One of the reasons they took James Harden over, say, eventual rookie of the year Tyreke Evans in the 2009 draft was because they thought Harden could tolerate a secondary role.”

  • http://cnbc.com JTaylor21

    nbk, when teams are playing off guys like Reke and Russ (great slashers), what other choice do they have expect to settle for 16-23 footers ? Both guys need to improve their midrange shot (Reke fades away too much and Russ leans in) to take that next step in their careers. That is what makes Rose so good and better than both of them; he’s such a good mid-range shooter that teams have to respect his shot therefore opening up driving lanes.

  • http://slamonline.com nbk

    I don’t feel like you really need me to say this but….there are plays for those situations. You don’t have to just shoot a jumper.

  • http://bulls.com airs

    i dunno, i feel reke’s “ball hoging” is more justified than westbrooks, he was on the kings!
    and of course harden would fill a more secondary role, he was drafted the year after they already had russ and kd.
    if russ wasn’t already on that team, i can totally picture OKC picking up tyreke.

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