OKC Thunder In the news: is the Westbrook – Durant cold war over?

Does OKC Thunder superstar Russell Westbrook alongside former teammate Kevin Durant at a UCLA  pick up game finally mean the cold war is over?

Since the summer of 2016 the relationship between Russell Westbrook and former OKC Thunder star and running mater Kevin Durant has been chilly at best. Although the frost melted a bit with the pair playing in the All-Star Game every subsequent meeting between the Warriors and Thunder re-ignited the feud.

Durant didn’t help the situation by constantly fueling the fodder. Cut to KD’s burner accounts and interaction with internet trolls. Worst, the constant conflicting statements about the precise timelines of his decision made the situation worse. Every time the narrative appeared to be dying down KD would say something which reignited the angst.

Recently at the Team USA training camp the pair got into it on the court during a practice with Kyrie Irving needing to break it up. Hey, the truth is that’s normal for guys to be competitive and is there anyone more competitive than the Brodie?

But, could the ice finally be melting? If this citing of the pair at the Rico Hines Open Run at UCLA is to be taken at face value then the answer is yes. In addition to KD and Russ their former OK3 original, James Harden was on hand, as was current running mate Paul George.  Several of the Raptors bench mob were also on site. SLAM Magazine and youtube offered up the footage of the trio plus PG on court playing like they’ve never missed a beat alongside each other.

More Russ is a great teammate accolades:

Speaking of relationships and the never ending shade thrown at Westbrook –Jerami Grant recently sat down for an interview with  Hoops Hype and he was asked about Westbrook as a teammate. As per writer Alex Kennedy:

"There’s this narrative that Russell Westbrook is a bad teammate and that people don’t want to play alongside him. You hear it from some media members and from opposing fans. Some people say it’s because he doesn’t pass enough, some people bring up his personality. As someone who’s played with Russ for two years and gotten to know him well, what do you think of that narrative?JG: That’s just ignorant. I think people just listen to the media [who say that] and believe it, but Russ is a great teammate and a great person. Players obviously want to play with him. PG just re-signed to come back. I just re-signed to come back. I know of a lot of players who want to be in OKC. I think that’s a huge misconception in the media and I don’t know why it’s said. He’s a great player and everyone wants to play with great players because we all want to win. He definitely passes the ball. I’m not really sure what else to say about that. It’s just ignorance."

More from Thunderous Intentions

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• Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

At some point you have to figure this nonsense will die down. Enes Kanter, Victor Oladipo, Paul George, Corey Brewer, Steven Adams and I’m sure I’m missing someone, have all elaborated on this Westbrook narrative. The bottom line is everyone speaks to what a great teammate Russ is. They’ve discussed how he is on and off the court.

A commonality is the teammates (present and former) call Westbrook a regular guy who would do “anything” for them. It’s time to put this narrative to rest. It feels like it’s only being spun by pundits (looking at you Colin Cowherd) who don’t like Westbrook. Enough is enough.

OKC Thunder 30 for 30 series continues:

Apologies to those who invested in TI’s 30 for 30 series hoping it would drop daily. It’s a massive undertaking by our team and became difficult to meet the daily hit. That said, we’re back at it and have entries coming daily for the next week and we’ll try to stay on task to get the full 30 up prior to training camp.

The current 30 for 30 is an intriguing selection by Lawrence George who examines ‘the President’ Malcolm Brogdan of the Bucks and his fit on the OKC Thunder.

"The Bucks have difficult decisions to make as Brogdon, Bledsoe and Kris Middleton are all chasing paydays next off-season. With the team capped out, one of the afore-mentioned players won’t be with the team. With the direction Milwaukee appear to be going in, Brogdon could be the odd-man out."

That wraps up OKC Thunder In the news for August 23. Enjoy your day and ramp up to the weekend. Make sure to drop by tomorrow as TI serves up more exciting posts like another 30 for 30 article and a special dunk fest featuring the top 50 dunks in OKC Thunder history.