Kevin Durant snapped back at a former teammate who said Russell Westbrook was the best player in Thunder history
The feud started innocently enough. Perkins tweeted to tease an upcoming appearance on SportsCenter in which he claimed that Russell Westbrook was the greatest player in Thunder franchise history.
Boston Celtics writer Mark D'Amico chimed in to argue that Westbrook may have had the best career in Oklahoma City but certainly wasn't the Thunder's best player ever.
He put together the best career within that organization, but he’s definitely not the best player to have ever put on a jersey for them. Cmon Perk!
— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) January 9, 2020Perkins disagreed.
Hey Kevin left the door open and Russ walked right in
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) January 9, 2020And when D'Amico invoked Westbrook's postseason success — or lack thereof — in Oklahoma City, Perkins responded with a critique of Durant's playoff history there.
KD lost in the second round without Russ when I was there. So what that mean?
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) January 9, 2020That's when Durant chimed in.
Yea and our starting center @KendrickPerkins averaged a whopping 2 and 3 during that series. U played hard tho champ lol
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) January 10, 2020First, Perkins owned up to his subpar performance during the playoff series in question, when the Thunder survived the Houston Rockets before falling to the Memphis Grizzlies without Westbrook in 2013. He also noted that he, too, won an NBA championship in his career.
Facts on the averages and facts on the Champ part too!!!
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) January 10, 2020But then Perkins criticized Durant's decision to leave Oklahoma City for the reigning champion Golden State Warriors in 2016, mere months after Durant, Westbrook, and company lost a seven-game series to the Warriors in the Western Conference finals.
Boy stop you did the weakest move in NBA History!!! Up on a team 3-1 in the western conference finals and then go join them the following season?! Heart of Champion right there
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) January 10, 2020He then once again took aim at Perkins' poor production with the Thunder. The retired big man responded with the common talking point that Durant's championships are less meaningful because he joined a team that was historically great before his arrival.
That’s fine!!! You worked that hard and still had to go join a 73-9 team. Truth be told you don’t even feel like a real Champ, you have hard time sleeping at night huh knowing that you took the coward way out!!!
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) January 10, 2020One fan brought the conversation full-circle by questioning whether Durant was angry about not getting a tribute video from his former franchise. Westbrook received a warm welcome and a tribute video in his first return to Oklahoma City Thursday night after his trade to Houston during the offseason.
Haha Nah perk just been shooting his lil shots at me for a minute.
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) January 10, 2020This wasn't the first time Durant's tweets received attention this week. When a fan implied that his new team — Brooklyn Nets — are irrelevant, Durant clapped back with a pithy response.
What does it say?
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) January 9, 2020Durant is out for the season after rupturing his Achilles tendon during Game 5 of last year's NBA Finals. Rest assured, the 2014 NBA MVP and four-time NBA scoring champion will continue talking smack on Twitter until he makes his Nets debut next season.
Why do u care? Just scroll on down the line
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) January 9, 2020Now check out Jimmy Butler's feud with T.J. Warren from earlier this week.
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