Squabbling ex-teammates Durant, Westbrook to meet.
Westbrook ducks Durant questions; Warrior plays coy; Green might mediate
NEW ORLEANS — Russell Westbrook arrived about 10 minutes late to his scheduled media session on Friday morning in New Orleans. He took a seat. He took a breath. He was immediately hit with his first Kevin Durant question: “What’s it going to be like to be in that locker room with Durant?”
“Man,” Westbrook responded. “Fashion Week is going to be great. A lot of great looking things to look forward to at Fashion Week.”
One question later: “Russ, any discussion about you and KD being on the court together?”
“Man,” Westbrook said. “Have you seen the new Public School clothing? Crazy. They
got the new Jordan hoodie with Tinker.”
This has become the theme of the weekend in New Orleans. Everyone around the All-Star Game wants to talk Westbrook, Durant and their friendship turned rivalry. But the two quibbling former teammates have no interest.
Westbrook’s tactic to ignore was simple: re-route any Durant question toward fashion with a smile and a clear message. Durant was a bit more engaging, though reluctantly.
About 15 feet from Westbrook’s podium, Durant jumped onto the big stage toward the back of the room to join “SportsCenter” with Sage Steele. Four minutes into the interview, she asked Durant about Westbrook and the tenor of the weekend between the two.
“I’m going to handle AllStar weekend like I always do,” Durant said. “Get in and get out. Do everything I’m supposed to do, play the game and have some fun. I didn’t come here for there to be any drama or have a heart-to-heart with anyone.”
But part of the rift between the two has to do with Durant’s sour departure. He sent a farewell text and the two haven’t talked since, unless you count the on-court trash-talk between the two in the three Warriors-Thunder games.
In November, Durant told the Bay Area News Group that “I’m not saying I did (the farewell) the right way. I’m owning up to that.” Durant said that someday he’d sit down and discuss that with Westbrook. Many are wondering if that day will be this weekend.
“It’s not even something I’m thinking about,” he told EPSN’s “SportsCenter.” “If it happens organically, it does. But I’m not planning to do anything — just coming out here and enjoying my weekend. If it happens, it does. If it doesn’t, no big deal either.”
Durant then finished up his ESPN interview, strolled across the room to his podium and refused to answer any more Westbrook questions: “I don’t want to talk about that.”
But it remained a topic around the room.
“I think it’s overblown, to be honest with you,” Stephen Curry said. “From their standpoint, they know each other so well. Obviously there’s history and, whatever you want to call it with the transition with KD leaving. At the end of the day, we’re all celebrating being AllStars here. When we get in the locker room, I think it will be business as usual.”
Draymond Green, for his part, said he’d like to “mediate” something between the two.
“I just don’t want any awkwardness in the locker room,” he said. “I would want to help get rid of the awkwardness.”
But that will likely fall on Westbrook’s shoulders. He was the one who was left. He is the one who still clearly feels some type of way. If Durant extends the olive branch, he’s still the one that has to accept it. But at this point, he seems more intent on ignoring both the friction and Durant.
“Have people moved on?” a reporter asked Westbrook near the end of his media session.
“I don’t know. I don’t know what y’all’s problem,” Westbrook answered.
“Have you guys moved on?” the reporter responded
“What it look like?” Westbrook said.
“Well, we’re still asking the questions,” the reporter responded.
“That’s y’all’s problem,” Westbrook said.
“Well, what ends this?” the reporter responded.
“I don’t know what y’all need, but I’m in a great place,” he said. “I’m having fun. I’m having a great time.”