Kevin Durant didn’t hide his surprise when Russell Westbrook stepped away from the game.
Westbrook, who announced his retirement last month after an 18-year NBA career, left with a résumé that practically sells itself: nine All-Star nods, the 2017 MVP award, and the league’s all-time triple-double mark. Even at 37, he was still putting up useful numbers for the Sacramento Kings on a veteran-minimum deal, averaging 15.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.7 assists across 64 games last season.
Speaking to Boardroom, Durant said Westbrook still looked like a player who could help someone right now.
"A lot of guys that have been younger than me or drafted after me have retired, but I wasn't as close to them as I was to Russell. And it's somebody I feel like can still play.
It surprised me... It was shocking.
Like I said, I thought he could still play. I feel like he would have been a good veteran presence in the locker room."
That reaction carries extra weight because Durant and Westbrook were linked for so long in Oklahoma City. They spent eight seasons together with the Thunder, reached four Western Conference Finals and made one trip to the NBA Finals.
Then came the split. Durant left for the Golden State Warriors in 2016, won two straight championships there, and Westbrook took over as the centerpiece of a reworked Thunder team that pushed him to an MVP-level peak.
There were once reported tensions between them after Durant’s exit from Oklahoma City, but Durant’s comments now read like the words of someone who still has real respect for Westbrook’s game.
Durant remains very much in the middle of the NBA conversation himself. At 37, he averaged 26.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists over 78 games last season and earned a spot on the All-NBA Second Team.
For the Rockets, that production matters. Houston has put together back-to-back 50-plus-win seasons in a crowded Western Conference, and the growth of Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson has only raised the ceiling. Fred VanVleet’s return gives the team another boost, but his injury history and recent dip in scoring leave some uncertainty at point guard.
That’s where Westbrook could have fit in as a safety valve. Instead, Houston will look to Thompson, Reed Sheppard and Marcus Smart to help cover that spot if VanVleet runs into trouble again.
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Now the Rockets are turning the page toward a more urgent win-now phase after adding Kevin Durant, and that change in direction can create uncomfortable choices on the margins of the roster. For a team that no longer can afford to think only about growth, the question is whether a respected presence like Green still fits the next version of the room, or whether the price of chasing a title means parting with one of the people who helped get them here. [Read more 🡒]
Reed Sheppard Gives Rockets A Tough Decision They Can't Ignore
Reed Sheppards first real chance to carve out a starting-guard role in Houston last season did not go as planned, even with Fred VanVleet unavailable for stretches. The Rockets still saw enough to know the conversation is not going away, though, because Sheppards shooting remains one of the more intriguing parts of their roster build.
The front office now has to weigh what that skill brings against the other pieces Houston needs if it wants to keep pushing toward title contention. Sheppards touch from deep gives the Rockets a weapon they cannot easily replace, but figuring out how large a role that should earn him is the kind of decision that can shape more than one rotation. [Read more 🡒]
Kevin Durant Weighed In On The NBA Debate Rockets Fans Know Too Well
Kevin Durant recently weighed in on one of the NBAs most familiar debates, and it is the kind of conversation Rockets fans know well in a league that has changed fast around them. In a recent interview, Durant talked about the sports international evolution, noting how many of todays top players, including recent MVPs, are coming from outside the United States while still being shaped by the American stars who helped define the modern game.
Durant framed that shift as a good thing for basketball, not a threat to it, and pointed to the global spread of the leagues style as proof of how far the sport has grown. He also touched on his broader connection to the games biggest names off the floor and praised international stars who are blending American basketball influence with their own countries talent pipelines, a reminder that the NBAs next argument may be about just how global the league has become. [Read more 🡒]