Kevin Durant isn’t naming names.
But it’s not difficult to guess who he was talking about.
The now Brooklyn Net was on the latest episode of SHOWTIME Basketball’s All The Smoke, where he joined former Golden State teammate, Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, to discuss among other things, his controversial decision to leave Oklahoma City following the 2016 season.
“In OKC I played with a lot of athletes, I didn’t play with a lot of skilled guys, not like shooters/ball handlers. … I was like, ‘I need a change.’ And this was before the season even started. … I was tired of having to be the only guy that can make 3s, make jump shots and consistently make them.”
Kevin Durant shares his reasoning behind leaving the Thunder for the Warriors. pic.twitter.com/KexrlZQURX
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 8, 2020
Although Durant played alongside a lot of different guys during his nine-year tenure in Oklahoma City, one of the most athletic was former Thunder point guard, Russell Westbrook.
Together the two went to the playoffs six times over seven years, including a 2012 trip to the NBA Finals in which they were ultimately beaten by LeBron James and the Miami Heat.
KD was incredibly successful during his time in OKC. A seven-time All-Star and league MVP, he helped put the Thunder on the map as legitimate postseason contenders.
Durant’s final postseason series was the 2016 Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors. The former-Thunder star caught a lot of heat for leaving Oklahoma City to join the team that had just beaten them, but he revealed on the podcast that it wouldn’t have mattered if OKC won the series, he still wanted to “live and play in The Bay”.
Durant is not expected to play this season as he continues to work back from a ruptured Achilles that he suffered in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals.
He also discussed the Twitter beef with Kendrick Perkins, his time with the Warriors and the decision to join the Nets in the hour-plus long episode.