Feud underlines why NBA is the best
The Durant- Westbrook storyline means the usually low- key All Star game is the focus of much interest in a compelling NBA season
The NBA is this year the most interesting sporting league in the world.
Need proof? The competition will this weekend pause for its All Star break, typically a time for fans to make like the majority of players and forget about basketball for a few days.
Except, this season in the NBA, the All Star game is far from a frivolous exhibition. In fact, events in New Orleans will provide compelling action worthy of any competitive fixture.
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, two men who played together for eight years and have in the last eight months had no meaningful conversations, are set to once more be on the same side on Monday ( NZT).
The dynamics of the Western Conference selection have transformed what is usually a carefree occasion into a kind of melodrama usually seen only in soap operas. And the saga of Durant and Westbrook is only one storyline in a banner season for the Association.
Buoyed by an unprecedented explosion of talent on the court and no shortage of irresistible storylines outside the lines, the NBA has almost every night provided fans a spectacle unmatched in the sporting world.
There’s the development of oncein- a- generation young players like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid. There’s the looming possibility of the climactic instalment in a trilogy of championship showdowns between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors. And there’s the circus that is the New York Knicks.
Above all, there’s Durant and Westbrook, a once- successful union that was marred by a messy separation when Durant last year celebrated Independence Day by taking his considerable talents to Golden State — leaving behind Westbrook in Oklahoma City.
Sport is a business and player movement is common but that transaction was particularly shocking. Led by their two disparate stars, the Thunder were last season one superhuman Klay Thompson performance away from upsetting the record- setting Warriors in the Western Conference finals, an exclamation point in a burgeoning rivalry that seemed set to delight basketball for the next several years.
Instead, we now have a rivalry of a different kind.
Both men have flourished without the other, in contrasting ways. Durant’s unique skillset saw him step into a championship- winning team and assume the role of chief offensive threat, outshining two- time MVP Stephen Curry. It hasn’t been seamless, but the Warriors are unstoppable when everything clicks.
Speaking of unstoppable, Westbrook is averaging a tripledouble through 57 games, leading the league with 31.1 points per game, sitting third with 10.1 assists and 11th with 10.5 rebounds. The Thunder can occasionally appear like a one- man team, but it’s an awfully effective one.
While Durant and Westbrook have undoubtedly excelled as individuals, it is tempting to wonder what the duo could have accomplished were they still wearing the same uniform. We will instead have to settle for Monday.
How the All Star game will unfold is anyone’s guess. The pair is not on speaking terms — aside from yelling at each other in the third quarter of the Warriors’ comfortable victory over the Thunder last week — so anything’s possible.
Will we see peace or, at least, a temporary truce? Will Westbrook opt to freeze out Durant and pass the ball to everyone but the man he, in another life, regularly referred to as his brother? Or — and I’m almost afraid to mention this — will Golden State coach Steve Kerr spoil all the fun and refuse to play the erstwhile teammates at the same time?
Whatever happens, the NBA wins. And so do we.