July 4, 2016 is a date that will forever be etched in Oklahoma City’s memory. The OKC Thunder’s first superstar, Kevin Durant, decided to jump ship and head to Golden State – joining the historic Warriors who had just wiped the Thunder out of the NBA Playoffs a few weeks earlier with a 3-1 comeback as Durant and his sidekick Russell Westbrook were unable to fend off the Bay Area players.
It’s a much-criticized decision that still leaves basketball fans searching for answers and details about how it all went down. On NBA veteran Jeff Teague’s podcast, Club 520Damian Lillard explained that he had something to do with the Warriors building this super team.
“[Russell Westbrook] he was the tyrant… He tried to give me 50 every time. He was pulling on me so much that [Kevin Durant] “I’d go crazy, like, ‘Pass the ball!'” Lillard explained on the Club 520 podcast.
While it’s unclear how much of a factor that played into Durant’s departure, as he joined the Golden State Warriors to form one of the greatest teams we’ve ever seen, it certainly passes the visual test. Every time Westbrook faces Lillard, it becomes an all-too-personal battle for the Thunder franchise icon, which has sometimes led to confusing plays and underwhelming performances.
The exclamation point of that rivalry was Lillard knocking the Thunder off the court in the playoffs and ending Westbrook’s tenure in Bricktown that had run its course and launching Oklahoma City into a rebuild that has led the franchise to build one of the best cores in the sport heading into the 2024-25 season.
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