Kevin Durant: “I was a little sad because I still thought Russ (Westbrook) had five or six more years left. He’s an athletic body that can still impact the game positively”
If he thought Russ had five or six years left KD’s going to try to play til he’s 50
KD loves basketball and doesn’t do much outside of it, he’s clearly gonna try to play until he literally can’t anymore
He’s gonna be in the Chinese league dropping 25 at 60 lol
And churning out 25 new burner social media bots a night after the game
Learning Mandarin at 58 just so he can properly respond to haters on Chinese social media
KD loves basketball and doesn’t do much outside of it.
This is erasure of his social media legacy.
Social media defending his basketball career through his main and burners is still basketball related
That’s still better than trying to bang every insta/only fans girl
Well at least he loves Basketball enough to only talk shit about people who play it
There’s a 90% chance all of his social media arguments are happening while he’s waiting for a matchup on 2K online
You consider social media “doing much” then?
He was in a group chat with xitter randoms calling his teammates slurs, you have to respect this level of elite play.
For a professional athlete celebrity who could be doing literally anything else besides responding to trolls? Yes
At his level? Yes.
Also his weed smoking
I know KD gets a lot of hate on here, as much of an assclown he can be; I’m gonna miss watching him hoop
and “triple double cocaine bear” is a goated nickname
People forget prime KD is one of the best offensive weapons in the history of the league
Nah KD will never take a bench role. He was already complaining about it to the media just minutes after his coaches told the same media they gotta watch his minutes.
Once KD a nonstarter he’ll retire. Just like Westbrook. Harden will do the same.
I think we don’t yet know how he will react when he knows he’s not physically competitive any more
Most elite players cannot accept it, and as you say, retire
But KD strikes me as someone who, in spite of his riches, still finds basketball the most fulfilling thing he’s ever done.
So who actually knows?
I think out of all 3 Harden is the one that has shown the most selflessness throughout his career and he can be a role player
KD will be like 40-41 starter level imo, he slots in easily on every team and can be a spot up shooter even later on and play like small ball center there aren’t many bigs that post up now he can do that
yo p they said i gotta come off the bench
We talkin’ ‘bout practice?
I 100% believe this - he’ll play until injuries stop him or until he’s the 12th man on the Kings at 48 years old.
He will probably be at his local YMCA playing after no team NBA will sign him anymore.
Kinda surprised there isn’t an NBA retiree rec league? Feel like there’s a lot of dudes who would keep playing for the love of the game they just can’t play NBA speeds anymore. Could set up games based on the pace and intensity of the players so matchups aren’t too one sided.
He probably gonna be texting Bron in 10 years. “Hey can you play this weekend”
What do you think he’ll do once he retires? Spend his free time on social media talking shit and be a commentator somewhere and talk more shit? Or maybe just a coach?
He literally makes burner accounts to talk to people about his job lol
He runs multiple businesses and is an investor in many businesses and is involved in the community. He also has tons of endorsements. He has plenty going on.
He really does have the body for it. Slender and low impact play style. He could be like a late career Kyle Korver into his mid 40s for sure. He wasn’t athletic but he also wasn’t known for getting cooked defensively.
Korver? Yeah he was getting cooked pretty bad defensively, he just had value as a 40%+ 3PT shooter.
Just KDs length alone should make him a lot more manageable on defense, even if he’s a traffic cone he can intercept passes, handles and just generally be in the way in a much more efficient way compared to Korver lol. This + the wettest jumper of possibly all time should make for a pretty decent roleplayer and vet presence + key moments in the post season for a while. I think KD can only truly be fucked if his legs get f’d up completely or if he needs a massive injury to his hand and wrist and his Jumper just sucks atp
Him being a positive vet presence is highly debatable. He does seem like he’s helpful in teaching young players. However his ego and the fact that he’s not nearly as smart as he thinks he is have already proven him to be somewhat un-coachable and being problematic for team chemistry at times. Maybe he can become more humble like Russ did and have a little renaissance at the tail end of his career. More likely he ends up ending his career in a disappointing whimper after some incredible highs similar to Carmelo Anthony.
Playing a season on the Kings will age you by 5 years, so KD’s right, it’s just that Russ used up all of his energies because he played for the Kings.
I think he could maybe play long enough to pass the 40k points mark. Like 5 more seasons.
I legit think KD is gonna play until his legs stop working. I think hooping is his thing in life.
KD will play until he physically cannot walk anymore
KD don’t understand basketball. Just scoring. It’s all he knows.
[deleted]
Guys like KD used to actually get hired to run teams and then it makes sense how like 5 franchises have all the chips.
Joe Dumars
Joe won a ring as a GM
And Doc Rivers won as a coach
lol
Lmfaoo they still unfortunately do. Elton Brand been terrorizing Philly for a decade.
You mean the decade where you guys became relevant again?
I wouldn’t call never making it out of the second round of the playoffs relevant.
Hell of a lot more relevant than they were in the timeframe between AI and Embiid. I’m sure teams like Charlotte and Sacramento would love to be as irrelevant as the 6ers.
Jerry Krause outwitted plumbers
Jerry Krause got lucky being in the right place at the right time & could never recreate his magic again. Can’t stand that weasel. Hakeem is a solid 1st pick in any draft. But then Jerry got as lucky as luck gets that the trailblazers are morons & “needed a center.” Plain & simple, really. MJ fell into Jerry’s
lap.
and then theres danny ainge
There he is, alright.
KD talking about Russ like the family dog
From a guy without kids that’s the highest compliment.
He did call him a triple double cocaine bear. There’s still love and admiration towards Russ despite the bad blood
I don’t even think they have bad blood anymore. They’ve moved on
Lmaoooo 😭
Why are yall blasting him for being nice? Now if he said “obviously it was time” then you would’ve been on his case for being a cunt
The fact is there are so many people on the internet, and the ones with negative comments will be the most vocal
Listen to this prick giving orders
5 or 6 years is just silly
It is, but KD is a similar age and probably thinks he has a good chunk of time left as well
KD might. But he is going to one of the 5 oldest players in the league this year. He should see the door closing too
Right? Isn’t Westbrook among the players that KD always is positive about too? Why would anyone by shocked by him showing some wishful thinking?
He can be nice without sounding delusional lol. “He had some years left” would’ve worked just fine. Him specifying 5-6 is hilarious
He’s a cunt either way.
Why
Burner accounts
Grown men pouting over celebrities using burners
Eh. He’s just like us
Why?!?! 😭
Why not
5-6 more years is nuts. Westbrook and KD are legends who are among the oldest players in the league. Just call it a hall of fame career and leave it alone.
Westbrook is 38. How is he playing until 44? Who even plays until 44?
why you saying fuck you to lebron james for?
The 🐐
Where’s u/MITWestbrook nowadays?
Apparently banned. Does anyone know why?
many unrepentant years of being himself.
Just like his GOAT 💔
[removed]
This has been debunked
Looking through his most recent comments, it looks like he kept spamming different threads promoting Meta’s Muse agent.
maybe the account got hacked.
I literally remembered seeing him post a farewell post when westbrook retired. Wtf did he do in-between then and now to get banned is the question
Mopery. He was found guilty of violating California Code, Civil Code - CIV § 52.1.
He basically exposed himself to a blind person.
Is Russ isn’t playing any more, what’s the reason for posting?
Complaining that he should be on a roster instead of Harden or something
Russ retired lol
I remember seeing some lowkey racist post from them regarding Jeremy Lin, maybe that?
That user is racist and made racist posts here
I had a look at his post history, it seems like he got really into Muse (the AI shit) and was promoting it in the Muse/Meta subs with like a special signup link of his, his last post was on Sept 20th in /r/DynastyFF , nothing odd though, if he was banned it would say he was banned when going to his profile, maybe he just deleted his account
Didn’t they retire? I just wanna know why the sub hasn’t hung their handle up yet
Now that I think about it, this was 100% KD burner account.
Everyone keeps forgetting she’s a woman too, I assumed she took a break from reddit
Any source or proof on that?
MITWestbrook is a lady?
That became a meme after some female reporter asked Russ a super soft ball question
People in here acting like an 18-year career for an athleticism-based guard is some sort of demerit. Yall aren’t basketball fans
A good amount of this sub barely watches basketball and just shit on players to feel better about themselves. Look at the two idiots below calling KD “profoundly stupid off the court” for example.
There are people that find talking about basketball and looking at the advanced analytics of basketball games to be more entertaining than watching the actual game itself due to all game stoppages, commercial breaks, gambling promotions, BS ref calls, ref reviews, flopping etc.
I will push back on people not being basketball fans and will instead say people let narratives slant the shit they saw with their own two eyes way too much, to the point they’ll have something seem like the worst shit in the world when it was a clear positive (such as the career of Russell Westbrook).
Westbrook was the 12th oldest player in the league last season. And 8 of them played fewer games than Russ. There were more 19 yos than guys who have played longer than him.
That said, what KD said is stupid. Very few guys make it as long as Westbrook did and still matter
The funny thing its not even because of the athleticism its just that he can literally only play like one or 2 styles of basketball and never over 18 years developed any other part of his game.
If he atleast was a mid shooter and could play team D he would have a spot in
He doesn’t have the brain for it
His mentality that made him an MVP and got him all those counting stats was his downfall, it’s what also made him lose multiple playoff games taking more shots than way better scorers like KD for example but also got him triple doubles and 30 point averages
At the end of the day he had a great career and retired because he doesn’t want to be on the bench 70% of the game
You don’t deserve me at my bestbrook if you can’t handle me at my worstbrook
That’s true, ya’ll never got
bestbrook
Sounds to me like you’re just a babbling brook.
KD is just being nice man relax. Russ played 18 years in the NBA. Pretty much nobody is playing 23 years of basketball. Don’t pretend like this is a Westbrook problem.
Westbrook could have 100% had a longer career and a much better last few years of his career if he played to his strengths, tried on defense and took fewer dumb shots
Westbrook is still very athletic and clearly not washed physically, it’s all mental and him wanting a bigger role
5-6 years is clearly an exaggeration but Westbrook is relatively healthy and athletic, could have played until 40 easily on a smaller role if he was smarter about how he played
I get him not wanting to become a bench piece though. After winning an MVP that’s a bit like watching your mentee become your boss
He’s leaving money on the table but I think he has young kids and plenty of money. I respect it
I think he can be a starter in multiple teams if he didn’t Westbrook around taking too many shots, leaving players open to get rebounds not trying on defense
Just his playmaking alone is very valuable, there’s 30 NBA teams, a lot of them suck and have awful point guards, a top tier team like the Timberwolves last season had no point guard, he could have been a starter in quite a few teams if he changed his playstyle that’s my point
It’s fine not wanting to be a bench player, my point is he has the tools not to be one, instead he does dumb shit on the court because he thinks he’s better than he actual is
Did you forget that Westbrook retired on his own terms? He had offers from teams but decided to peace out instead. So he could’ve had a longer career if he wanted to.
My point is he didn’t have to and could have had the large role he desired if he changed his playstyle but he never did, there’s worse players who start and have big roles which Westbrook wanted but they play much smarter
that’s the pac 10 defensive player of the year you’re talking about buddy
We simplify these things. Is it that he doesn’t want to be a bench piece? Or is it that he doesn’t want to be a bench piece — in Sacramento — playing meaningless basketball — on a minimum contract — when he could make more money than that with his brand not playing basketball and living with his family?
Nah that can’t be it. He’s only worth around $300M (without the NBA salary) in passive income, business ventures, and investments. Why would he not want a minimum contract on the Kings?
Must be because he’s washed and no one wants him (had offers from the Wiz and Kings)
I agree with this take. Westbrook played most of his career a tier above everyone else athletically, to where now even after declining he’s still got a ton left in the tank.
I mean, KD had a tendency to turn invisible in close games back then. He did it numerous times against the Warriors.
absolutely insane comment lmfao wtf are you on
Russ’s heart and belief in himself is legendary but OP makes him sound like Carmelo Anthony levels of ego lmao
Imagine dumbass idiots on reddit claiming they know more about basketball than Russell Westbrook who is an MVP and averaged a triple double multiple times.
And then hundreds of fucking idiots upvote that idiot and they believe the same.
It’s absolutely wild to see, idiots shouldn’t have this kind of megaphone.
the average age of this sub is like 16
KD wasnt demanding the ball in a lot of those moments though. He was content to let somebody else handle the moment. The 2012 Finals there were plenty of moments KD could’ve worked to get open but he just meanders about. Watching Westbrook or Harden.
Westbrook didn’t do it with just KD, he took more shots than KD in the finals and Magic called him brain dead live on TV
It also happened with PG when PG was top 3 MVP averaging 30 and scoring way more efficiently than Westbrook, he took more shots averaging 6 fewer points on 46% TS vs Portland while PG was averaging 29ppg on way better shooting
Same with Harden, he took more shots than Harden in the Lakers series in the bubble and was out there beefing with families in the sideline and just shooting dumb ass shit on 48% TS
Westbrook was straight up a moron at times but again like i said that kind of mentality literally got him an MVP and 350m, would u change? Most people wouldn’t change, it takes an insane self awareness to change if you are a 6’3 athletic beast who gets paid supermax money and teams are trading for you, it was just as much other teams fault as it was Westbrooks
The one in the bubble is crazy because Russ was just coming back from a hamstring injury too lol
He’s hilarious honestly, the Lakers were clearly targeting him too known he’ll just go dumb dumb
The fact that they actually wanted him after that is even more hilarious and how dumb the Lakers are, whoever wanted him LeBron, the FO whoever wanted him after that is straight up stupid
That series he was one of the most brain dead players i’ve ever seen and he was amazing for a stretch for the Rockets prior, he was averaging like 30/8/8 in the last 25 games on actual good efficiency, he got injured but why the fuck are you still taking more shots than Harden trying to prove people what
Both Harden’s attempts and percentage drops in the playoffs. That’s consistent with and without Westbrook. Harden literally disappeared during the finals you were criticizing Westbrook for.
Playoff P averaged more FGA than he’s done for the rest of his playoff career.
I think it’s more than fair to criticize his own play underperformances. But it’s ludicrous to blame him for other guys that have shown the exact same tendencies without him.
Straight up brain dead reply, Harden in Houston averaged 20.4 attempts per game, 24 per game the previous year before Westbrook joined
In the Lakers series he averaged 17.2, Westbrook averaged 18.4 while shooting 45% TS, Harden was at 66% TS
You checked out the overall numbers and forgot that Harden started as a 6th man, his shots did not drop as a first option in Houston, he was at 19.6 in the regular season, 20.4 in the playoffs
That’s a weak narration imo
It’s the truth
EDIT: wait wrong comment lol.
Lmao people really build up whatever narratives they have in their head and say it as facts here
Fr one of the best playmakers in the 2010s and oat doesn’t have the brain to win bro
Yeah, Russ was offered a contract and only asked, “will you listen to the coach and do whatever it takes to win” and he said he’d rather retire. Just not a winning player unfortunately.
Just imagining scenarios in your head and saying them as facts is crazy
Russ said it, if you have a problem take it up with him.
Where is evidence of that?
And that’s fine, better than signing for a team then throwing a tantrum because you’re not starting and getting shots
He did already, it was the previous 6 years.
The best hero ball player ever
5 or 6 years? lol wtf is he smoking 😂
He’s just being nice to a former teammate lol
I think he’s just being nice give him a break 😂
He could’ve played about that long off the bench. Especially if he had stayed in Denver.
I mean he had multi-year offers to return this season so I think 3-4 is possible
He just didnt want to come off the bench behind Trae Young
Some of y’all rarely talk to other humans and it shows
Deandre and Kevin Love are still in the league
What are we calling these sweatshirts that every team has? Spray paint shirts maybe? They need a name. That way when I say “I still don’t think the spray paint shirts are working” people will know what I’m talking about.
I think it’s call the Spectre edition or Standard Issue
Ugly. Let’s call them ugly
Kinda reminds me of the new Lakers jersey with purple spray paint
I likesome of the hoodies that have the logo instead of text, the jerseys really stink though and I hope they’re a one and done.
That nba logo placement is criminal.
standard issue collection
Didn’t Washington or Sacramento offer a minimum contract to him? He could have stayed in the league if he wanted to.
Off topic but the whole ‘spray can’ attire is dogshit
It’s like someone just got a hold of an old photoshop filter.
Physically Russ probably could have gone a bit longer. Just didn’t have the mentality to adapt and change. It’s what made him great for so long and also what meant he was never gonna last as long as other players
Russ did some good, scrappy glue guy type things. He plays bigger than he is too. He just still is going to attempt to make “the play” and you don’t want that from him anymore. I’m sure the athleticism was going to continue to decline too.
definitely not 5 or 6 years but yeah I could see another year or two
Five or six years, what???
Contrary to popular ongoing narratives Westbrook actually did good majority of the time coming off the bench.
I dont blame him for going out on his own terms. Better to retire with dignity than let teams carry you like you’re too washed to get a roster spot. Which is exactly what teams were doing and Russ deserves better.
SGA also said he was surprised and thought Westbrook had more left in the tank.
Five or six more years might be a stretch, but it’s nice hearing KD give Russ his flowers. For all the drama after OKC, you can tell he still has a lot of respect for him. Those two were something special together.
He thought Westbrook was gonna play until he was 44? Lol.
nba players have terrible takes 70% of the time
id call it wasted potential, he had the athletic body to keep going, sure, but he didnt cover the other aspects of playing basketball well enough. He never really evolved
Dude retired as one of the greatest PGs to play a sport that only the most gifted are allowed to play. If that’s wasted potential, then all of us are failures.
That’s not how wasted potential works. It’s relative to your own abilities. He could have been better even if he was great. That is wasted potential.
Perhaps if Russell Westbrook didn’t have kids, friends, social life etc then he could have been better at basketball.
Perhaps is potential as a human isn’t just what he does on the court.
Alright buddy
Pal
Was still reasonably athletic but had terrible hands and rock bottom iq even after all that time in the nba
Barring some major injury or massive decline, I think Durant is going to play longer than even LeBron. All dude cares about is hooping.
As long as he has his jumper and will always be 7 ft tall even if he doesn’t play defense or rebound anymore.
At his worst he will be 7 ft cam Thomas
“as long as the defining characteristics that come with aging don’t occur, I could see him playing longer than LeBron” wow what an idea
Some people don’t want to play basketball that long, even if they can. Durant isn’t one of those people.
Don’t worry, your point was extremely clear. They’re misunderstanding it on purpose so they can be snarky lol
Original point and the snarky rebuttal were both good
Durant gets a lot of hate but Durant loves to play the game and he is just obsessed with basketball even outside of playing. He will play till he couldn’t anymore. Dude was seen visualizing his jump shot while in a club lmao
Seems like a pretty normal caveat lol
If you mean number of games played forget about it. 25 seasons? We’ll see
Russ could definitely still play in the league
But is the league minimum and coming off the bench as the 8th man worth it for a guy who’s made hundreds of millions of dollars ?
He doesn’t need the money and even if he goes to a team that wins, he won’t play an impactful role in their winning. If I was Russ I would have walked away also
Yeah he can impact the game positively but also negatively 💀
“Just not on any team I’m on”
“Russ still had 5-6 years in him”
Ok so KD clearly doesn’t watch any games that he doesn’t play in
He ain’t wrong. Russ still got a few triple doubles with the Kings last season. Sure his output in many games weren’t very good - but he’s still doing better than a lotta bench warmers with garbage minutes. Realistically, he coulda still played as a 6th man on a team.
He’s saying the right things and everybody really loves Westbrook , but Kd really fucked his legacy by going to the Warriors and ditching russ after they got so close to winning.
This sub is so biased against Russ it’s insane
Dude outplayed Kawhi and Harden in a game 7 just 2 years ago for a GM that then told him to kick rocks when he was by far their only contributing bench asset. My goat got pushed out the league, so sad.
Getting fans kicked out for calling him Westbrick doesn’t help him be likable
I think it’s weird to hurl stupid childish insults to players infront of them. Especially when that nickname is made for
Skip Bayless.
I don’t give a crap about the “it’s sports excuse”. You’re a grown adult saying stupid playground bullying nicknames at another adult. That’s lame.
Heckling is a common part of sports and as long as it is not crossing unreasonable boundaries (defined societally not personally), it is lame to toss paying fans out for it. You don’t get to make money on people’s passion while not allowing them to express it.
Physically RW could have churned out a few more years but mentally no.
I’m not sure if anyone knows, but he can also impact the game negatively.
Where can I find the hoodie he’s wearing? The website only has the one with the big R
What do people here expect him to say? “Westbrook was washed and trash and there’s a reason no one wanted him”.? Obviously he wants to focus on the positives and believe in Russ.
Na
Russ was a beast because he was an amazing athlete and when that goes he just doesn’t have that much left.
KD is 7 feet tall and has an amazing shot. That lasts a lot longer
If you can shoot, 40 is an easy target to aim for
Is Russ had a serviceable jumper he’d be on a team right now.
Bro what lol you dont have 5 or 6 years left either my guy
Honestly I’d rather guys go out earlier. People unfairly remember guys like Shaq and Westbrook for their last few seasons.
True. 👍
I can’t believe he abandoned him in his prime to bus ride
KD literally could have brought him over last 2 years if he thought this was true. Even off the bench and they didn’t go for it. Russ barely even got a job last year, so I doubt he turned them down for any role they offered
They desperately needed PG play while FVV was dead and instead rode with rookies and mediocre vet mins. And it bit them hard in the playoffs in not having the right level of ball handling.
What about the rims? Could they withstand 5 or 6 more years of the fn stones that Westbrick would be launching at them if he didn’t retire?
“athletic body”, yes.
“ultra-athletic body that can overcome a lack of skills and decision making”, no. Westbrook hasn’t been like that since he was a Houston Rocket.
It’s an absolute shame that a bum like Chris Paul could get a chance last year but Russ can’t get one this year.
I think this tells us more about how KD views himself than anything. He’s in denial about how close he is to the end. Westbrook the star had been over for a while and he didn’t possess the skills to be a supporting player.
No you don’t
5-6 years? He’s been declining pretty heavily over the last few years
“5 or 6 years?” Lol
Does anyone know where you can buy these new hoodies with the team name written like that?