Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant will forever be linked together for their history as teammates. They both spent a decade playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder, with KD being a part of the team from 2007 to 2016 and Russ being on the roster from 2009 to 2019. The greatest moment for the franchise came when KD and Russ guided them to the 2012 Finals, only to be outmatched against the LeBron James-led Miami Heat.
Years of playoff failures after the 2012 Finals run started to take a toll on the relationship Westbrook and KD had. It also affected how KD perceived the franchise, as the team would progressively get worse over the years and never reclaim their Finals form. This would lead to KD’s departure for the Golden State Warriors in 2016 after he and Russ blew a 3-1 playoff lead to the Warriors in their 73-9 season.
That split created a lot of media tension between the players. They have shared the court plenty of times since, facing off in 10 head-to-head matches in the last 6 years. Their win records are tied with 5 apiece, and their statistics against each other are extremely good.
Westbrook vs KD head-to-head stats:
Westbrook — KD —
31/11/9 32/9/3
44/32/83% 54/47/94%
The matchup is tied 5-5. pic.twitter.com/OKGdYnsIAV
— StatMuse (@statmuse) August 19, 2022
KD’s numbers against teams with Russ seem pretty consistent with the numbers he would put up in general. However, despite Russ’s decline in the last few seasons, he still has very good numbers against teams KD is on. Whether there is extra motivation in terms of their acrimonious split is unknown, but it is something to note.
The prime years of OKC were lost when James Harden was traded away from the team, with Sam Presti often looking back fondly on that squad. We don’t know right now which teams Russ and KD will be on by the time they have to face each other next season with all the trade rumors they’re in. But it’ll be amazing to see them match up and watch who takes the head-to-head advantage.
