Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook Say There’s No Beef


Prior to the OKC Thunder’s thrilling, last-second victory against the Dallas Mavericks, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook both attempted to brush aside the dominant storyline about their little tiff on the bench a few nights ago. From the Oklahoman: “One of the central figures even pleaded ignorance. ‘What happened?’ guard Russell Westbrook said before Thursday night’s home game against Dallas. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ During a timeout late in the second quarter of Wednesday night’s 98-95 victory at Memphis, there were several verbal exchanges on the Thunder bench, most notably between Westbrook and two-time scoring champ Kevin Durant. ‘I didn’t think nothing happened,’ Durant said. ‘People keep saying we had this and that on the sideline and nobody seen nothing. Everybody on the bench was yelling. Coaches was yelling, not in a bad way but trying to get everything in order. We gave up a few points at the end of possessions and we were trying to get back in order. We were playing a good game and we had kind of slacked off for two or three minutes, so everybody was yelling. It wasn’t just myself or Russell or (Kendrick) Perk(ins). It was everybody.’ Thunder coach Scott Brooks stressed there were verbal arguments, not physical altercations. ‘I think it was a debate,’ Brooks said. ‘To me, an altercation in my world is a fight or a shove, something like that. A debate or a discussion is something totally different than an altercation. That did not happen. I’ve been coaching these guys for four years and we haven’t had one fight, which surprises me. We haven’t had any issues that were below the belt that I had to step in.'”