Russell Westbrook sends subtle message signing extension on Durant’s birthday

Russell Westbrook refuses to discuss the Kevin Durant cold war publicly, but his continual subtle messages can’t go unnoticed.

Russell Westbrook confirmed three things today:

1. He’s a man of his word (I love OKC – this is where I want to be).
2.  The OKC Thunder are his team today, tomorrow and for the next 5 years.
3.  The cold war between himself and Kevin Durant is far from over.

If there was ever any question Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant have laid their war to rest, today’s signing provides a resounding “no” to that question.

It’s not because Russell Westbrook signed his 5-year $205 million dollar contract either. Rather, it’s the timing for the signing. If you are questioning “why” him signing today (Friday, September 29th) matters you aren’t alone. But, for those who have alerts set on their cell phones to trigger NBA player birthdays, then you were among the giggling faction who received the update.

September 29th is Kevin Durant’s 29th birthday! Happy Birthday Kevin!

Much like the photographer bib Westbrook wore to Oracle for the OKC Thunder’s first meeting last season, this is yet another subtle comment from The Brodie.

No matter what Westbrook and Durant want to tell the masses, this war runs deep. Publicly Durant has gone out of his way to say there is no drama. Durant proclaims it’s just the media who are fueling this war.

Kevin Durant has long been someone who cares about what people think. This is best evidenced by his need to create fake Twitter accounts, just so he can argue with fans who troll him.  During his tenure in Oklahoma he was the player who seldom had fingers pointed in his direction. Conversely, Westbrook took almost all the heat for anything which went wrong. And, typical of the Brodie – he simply doesn’t care. For Westbrook, negative comments either provide motivation to get better or roll off his back like water from a duck. But, Russ is also someone who makes his point, whether on the court or off – it’s simply more subtle.

Perfect examples of this occurred in the past two weeks. Approximately ten days ago Durant spoke negatively about his own teammate Stephen Curry’s Under Armor brand. This, isn’t something a loyal teammate does. With off court sponsorship for the stars often being more lucrative than their team salaries, branding is key to long term success. Pulling something of this nature, is in direct contrast to Durant taking less contract money, so teammates like  Iguodala could earn more.  When these types of faux pas happen, it does beg the question on who Durant truly is as a person. Is he the loyal teammate who wants everyone to succeed? Or, is he star athlete who needs to be viewed as the alpha dog regardless of what team he’s on?  And, how important is his public image?

The latter question gained releveance  when Durant used one of his fake Twitter accounts to get into a war of words with a fan. Problem is he forget to switch from his personal account to his fake account. The consequence was his negative statements about the entire OKC Thunder roster (minus Russ) and coach Billy Donovan went out for the Twtterverse to witness.  Surely, these are his true feelings, not the publicly massaged dialogue previously presented. Now, there is no coming back from what he said.

On the opposite side of the fence is Russell Westbrook who has zero issue with telling a reporter where to go if he isn’t happy with the direction of their questions. He’ll live and die by his team and you won’t ever here him put a negative about a teammate out to the public. Think back to when Enes Kanter broke his arm on the chair.  Westbrook was the first guy to get to him in the locker room and tell him not to worry. He was the first to tell him his shot would come back. Westbrook for all his no nonsense, aggressive attitude is a true team leader.

But, that’s not to say there still aren’t residual remnants or hard feelings with Durant. Only Nick Collison knows for sure what went down at the infamous dinner a week prior to KD’s exit. But, based on Collison’s comments, Russ asked KD what (if anything) he could be doing better to help KD. Not once have we heard the opposing comments made (what KD could do to help make Russ better).

More from Thunderous Intentions

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• 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
• Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

Given Russell Westbrook’s loyal nature it’s also not surprising he chose to handle this entire situation on his own. His first subtle dig came the day of the defection when he posted cupcake pictures from his barbecue. The intended message was immediately understood. KD was a cupcake (soft) looking for an easier route to winning a title. Again, let’s not forget that OKC Thunder team were one win away from going to the finals.

Next, Westbrook wore the photographer bib in his first trip to Oracle to face his former teammate. Everyone immediately caught the reference as one of Durant’s side passions is photography.

More blatantly on court was Russ telling Durant in game “I’m coming, I”m coming”. Of course the Warriors were loaded and would go on to become champions. And, in all likelihood, they’ll be the prohibitive favorites to repeat this season.

But, the message to Kevin Durant today, was simple.

I’m sticking with the team you abandoned .This year I’ll be coming at you with Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, Patrick Patterson and all my other Thunder teammates. So Kevin,  make it a good wish when you blow out those candles buddy. Because OKC and Russell Westbrook aren’t going to simply roll over and play dead. Nor is Russell Westbrook going to stop sending you subtle messages until he achieves his ultimate goal – wining a title with the OKC Thunder.