Just a few weeks after the NBA Finals where LeBron took down Durant and the Thunder in five games, the two teamed up to win gold in London in the Olympics.

A lot of people look at LeBron and Durant’s friendship and don’t like it. They want the biggest rivalry in the NBA to be fueled by hatred, not friendship and respect.

Skip Bayless is notorious for speaking his mind in a controversial manner on ESPN’s First Take and had some negative thoughts toward Durant.

“I say once again, Kevin Durant, congratulations you are owned by LeBron James,” Bayless said. “Have fun in next year’s NBA Finals finishing second again.”

Durant responded on Twitter.

via DailyThunder.com

Durant later deleted the tweet which he has done a few times this summer when tweeting his mind on some issues.

Bayless may be correct in his belief that LeBron is supremely confident in his chances vs. Durant in a matchup. He is wrong though in thinking Durant views LeBron as his superior and someone who has his number.

This used to be the case for Durant. LeBron always dominated him in head-to-head matchups. But in the last two seasons, Durant has held his own vs. LeBron, less consistently than LeBron, but still a sign of improvement.

The Thunder beat the Heat twice in the regular season in the last two seasons and then Durant outplayed LeBron in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Durant also said this summer that he believes “his time” is now and that he is essentially ready to become the best player in the NBA.

Durant will get to the point where he is an equal with LeBron every time they play. He’s not quite there yet but working out with LeBron in the summer will only hasten his rise to the King’s level.

-US PRESSWIRE

Before monday’s game against the Grizzles Kevin Durant finally responded to all of Skip Bayless’ rants on how Russell Westbrook shoots the ball to much. Skip Bayless is always praising Durant talking about how Westbrook needs to pass him the ball more. This isn’t very surprising but Durant dissagrees with Skip and takes the side of his teammate on this one.

According to The Oklahoman, this is what Kevin Durant had to say about Bayless,

“That guy doesn’t know a thing about basketball.”

Skip Bayless has been known as a controversial sports journalist and this isn’t the first time someone has said he doesnt know anything about basketball. KD also had this to say,

“We’re worse when I take more shots,” Durant said. “Like I said, that guy doesn’t know a thing. I don’t think he watches us. I think he just looks at the stats. And traditionally, a point guard is not supposed to take more shots than everybody else on the team. But we’re better when he does do that and he’s aggressive. And I’m better when I’m out there facilitating, rebounding, defending and being more efficient on my shots with less shots.”

This is why the Thunder are arguably the best team in the NBA right now. Teamwork. When would you ever hear Kobe Bryant or Lebron James say that their team is better when someone else takes more shots, whether it be true or not? Westbrook is only 7 shots behind Durant on total shots for the season. If Westbrook was your average point gaurd this may be a problem, but he isn’t. Westbrook is having a MVP like season. The Thunder are 20-4 when Westbrook takes more shots than KD, with an average margin of 12.4 points.

Based on number I can’t agree with Skip on this one. The Thunder are clearly a better team when Westbrook is more agressive. But let’s wait til the playoffs and see who takes the most shots then, when it really matters.

Steve Dykes-US PRESSWIRE

Yesterday Stephen A. Smith, Skip Bayless and Tim Legler talked about the Oklahoma City Thunder and their chances at winning the NBA title this season.

The Thunder have the second-best record in the league right now behind only the Chicago Bulls. The current title favorite, Miami, would have to win road playoff games in Chicago and in Oklahoma City if the playoffs started today.

The Thunder are playing the best basketball they have all season right now. Kevin Durant has been his usual efficient self and Russell Westbrook has also elevated his game to another level, especially shooting the ball.

Then there’s James Harden who is turning into the guy everyone is starting to point at as the difference maker for the Thunder this season.

But there are still of course some pretty big concerns regarding the Thunder’s title chances.

Steve Dykes-US PRESSWIRE

Russell Westbrook shooting more than Kevin Durant

There are games and stretches of games where Westbrook is shooting more than Durant. In the Thunder’s last game, Westbrook had a stretch where he shot six straight times. Bayless and many others point to this as a problem for the Thunder.

Everyone loves Durant so much and doesn’t quite feel the same way about Westbrook. It’s clear that Durant is the best player and people always want him shooting more than Westbrook. One thing that can’t be ignored is just how good Westbrook is becoming.

There are moments especially during this regular season where he has such a mismatch that he comes right up the court and goes one-on-one to get his own shot. This wouldn’t be ideal is he wasn’t shooting 47 percent from the field this season.

Westbrook has elevated his game this season and isn’t just the starting point guard for the Thunder. He is also their second-leading scorer and needs to play that role from time to time. The concern shouldn’t be if Westbrook shoots more than Durant. There will be times when he needs to. The question is if Westbrook and Durant are going to know exactly when to take turns in the playoffs. Will Westbrook know to defer to Durant at the right moment or get lost in himself going one-on-one?

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

No interior scoring

Every championship team has some reliable form of interior scoring. The Thunder essentially do not. Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins aren’t bigs that you can throw the ball into and let them go to work. Durant and Westbrook are still in the early stages of developing post games and it is safe to say that they won’t be going to that too much in the playoffs.

While the lack of interior scoring is something we’ve never seen before from a championship team, so is the weapons that the Thunder have. They might be one of the best isolation scoring teams of all-time with Durant, Westbrook and Harden. How many teams before them had three players that could score like them?

Will that be enough to make up for their lack of scoring from the post though? Part of what makes scoring from the post so valuable is that it usually leads to more free throw shooting as well. The Thunder don’t exactly have an issue getting to the line and they are one of the best free throw shooting teams in the league as well.

The current Thunder makeup doesn’t fit exactly into the formula of previous champions but that doesn’t mean it isn’t going to work. Of the other contenders this season, how many really have reliable post-scoring options? The Lakers and the Mavericks are the best at this but Oklahoma City definitely has the potential to get by either.

Soobum Im-US PRESSWIRE

The San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs may be the sneakiest of things in the way of a Thunder trip to the NBA Finals this season. The last two times the Thunder played the Spurs they lost by 11 and 9 points. The Thunder have been completely unable to contain Tony Parker in the pick-and-roll and the Spurs have also quietly made some recent moves that will make them a better team with the additions of Stephen Jackson and Boris Diaw.

The Spurs also have depth which is a great asset in this regular season but will be diminished somewhat in the playoffs. It’s all about your best eight guys in the playoffs and the Thunder should have an edge there over San Antonio. And in the battle of the future versus the past, the future always wins out eventually.

The Thunder competing for a title this season really should be looked at as gravy for their fans. Durant and Westbrook are 23, Harden and Ibaka are 22. They have time. They just got to the top so quick the expectations will follow no matter how old they are.

If the Thunder do win a title they will do it in a fashion that hasn’t been seen exactly before. That’s not saying there’s no way they will do it but maybe they have some more work ahead of them than appears.