Westbrook and KD dap each other up at Kansas State-Colorado game

Oklahoma City Thunder fans rejoiced on Saturday. While the team is 2-1 in the 2024 preseason and is well-positioned to hit the ground running the regular season, a major weekend storyline was former franchise superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook embracing one another during the Kansas State Wildcats vs. Colorado Buffaloes game.

Durant and Westbrook have shared a complicated history since their ugly spit nearly a decade ago. The pair spearheaded a championship-caliber duo in Bricktown for eight seasons, including a memorable trip to the 2012 NBA Finals.

In Russ’ second season, the Thunder blossomed to become a rising contender. The team made the postseason in 2010 and, despite losing in the first round, took the eventual NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers to a hard-fought six-game series.

The 2009 season kicked off years of success for the franchise. The dynamic duo were selected to the NBA All-Star Game in each season after that. Durant captured the 2013-14 league MVP award, and Westbrook became known as Mr. Triple-double.

The dynamic duo fell apart

Just when it appeared that Oklahoma City would return to the finals, everything crumbled when the Blue and Orange squandered a 3-1 lead in the 2016 Western Conference Finals. Despite a pair of dominating performances in Games 3 and 4, OKC succumbed to the suffocating 3-point avalanche of the Splash Brothers — Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.

KD’s pulled the classic “if can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” move to the Warriors weeks later, forcing Russ and the Thunder faithful to turn their backs in contempt.

The former superstar duo’s “beef” was a popular topic on debate shows for many years, especially after some of their earlier encounters as opponents openly displayed their aversion.

However, as the years have passed, the bad blood has seemingly gone away and been replaced with a friendship. Both sides have recently shot down speculation about any bitterness between them. Russ and KD’s warm encounter during Saturday’s game was evidence of that.

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