Getty Kevin Durant threw a little bit of shade at Russell Westbrook before the start of the 2019-20 season.
The rivalry between Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook isn’t dying down anytime soon.
While appearing on Serge Ibaka’s cooking show on Monday, Durant answered a simple question from Ibaka regarding who he’d prefer between Westbrook and Stephen Curry. Durant, who isn’t afraid to give his honest and blunt assessment on things, quickly chose Curry over Westbrook.
Why?
Because his former Golden State Warriors teammate can shoot better than his former Oklahoma City Thunder one.
“Steph Curry,” Durant replied to the question on ex-Thunder teammate Serge Ibaka’s cooking show Monday. “He can shoot better.”
Steph Curry is Factually a Better Shooter Than Russell Westbrook
Well, there’s really no arguing Durant’s point here. Because the bottom line is that Curry is a better shooter than Westbrook. For as good as Westbrook is as an all-around player — obviously, Curry can’t match him with assists, rebounds and triple-doubles — Curry is the greatest shooter the game has ever seen.
For his career, Curry is well on pace to break the 3-point field goal makes record and has converted on 47.7 percent of his field-goal attempts and 43.6 percent from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Westbrook is coming off of a terribly inefficient season, which saw him make just 42.8 percent of his field-goal attempts and 29.0 percent of his 3-point attempts — his lowest 3-point shooting percentage since the 2009-10 season.
It also helps that Durant actually won championships with Curry, while with Westbrook, that wasn’t the case.
That’s not even mentioning Durant’s icy exit from Oklahoma City, in which he informed Westbrook he was leaving for Golden State via text.
Via The Vertical:
When Russell Westbrook traveled to Oklahoma City to meet with general manager Sam Presti in the aftermath of the franchise’s lost weekend in the Hamptons, Westbrook held no interest for a post-mortem on Kevin Durant. For a front office still mired in angst and anger, Westbrook delivered a sobering splash of ice water: What’s next?
No nostalgia, no reflection and no regret: In Westbrook’s world, Durant had been deleted like his old teammate’s text message saying goodbye on the way to Golden State.
Kevin Durant Re-Ignites Feud with Russell Westbrook
While the two former MVP’s won’t be facing off against one another this season — Durant remains sidelined for the entire 2019-20 season due to an Achilles injury — this does re-ignite the feud between the two former Thunder teammates.
Do we really believe that when Durant makes his debut in a Brooklyn Nets uniform in 2020, that Westbrook — now a member of the Houston Rockets — won’t take Durant’s comment as motivation?
Furthermore, we all know Durant is a smart player. He had to be well aware that a question like this could potentially open the floodgates for some drama. Yet, he still answered the question.
One thing is for certain — Durant clearly looks back on his time in Golden State a lot more fondly than his tenure in Oklahoma City. In fact, he admitted to this in an interview earlier this year.
Thinking that Thunder jersey retirement night might be pushed back a few more years… (Courtesy @WSJ)
Maybe all of that venom towards Oklahoma City played a role in Durant picking Curry over Westbrook?
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Kevin Durant Slights Russell Westbrook, Says Stephen Curry is Better