An amusing moment for all basketball fans took place on the legendary TV quiz show ‘Jeopardy,’ as a contestant mistook Russell Westbrook for Kevin Durant when they had to guess which OKC Thunder player’s picture was shown on the screen, with the host even describing the player as ‘a master of the triple-double.’
*picture of Russell Westbrook shown*
Host: “Then with OKC, this master of the triple-double became the first back-to-back MVP of the NBA All-Star Game since the 1950s.”
Contestant: “Who is (Kevin) Durant?”
"Then with OKC, this master of the triple-double became the first back-to-back MVP of the NBA All-Star Game since the 1950s."
Picture of Russell Westbrook shown
"Who is [Kevin] Durant?"
Safe to say this Jeopardy contestant isn't a big sports fan 😅pic.twitter.com/mQHAOrTpwq
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 4, 2024
Not everybody spends their life-consuming sports, specifically NBA basketball, so not knowing this shouldn’t be as egregious as many online are making it out to be. It does make me wonder how the contestant would react if someone told her the story of these two as teammates and the explosive ending their partnership had in 2016.
Durant averaged 27.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in his nine-season stint with the Thunder, while Westbrook averaged 23.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 8.4 assists in his 11-year stint with the franchise.
Kevin Durant And Russell Westbrook Were An Iconic Duo
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were drafted one season apart, with Durant joining the team in 2007 when they were still the Seattle SuperSonics and Westbrook joining in their first season as the Oklahoma City Thunder. The pair would blossom together and be far ahead of schedule when they made the NBA Finals in 2012, with another young star James Harden off the bench.
Harden would be moved on soon enough to accommodate Durant and Westbrook along with shot-blocker Serge Ibaka. Durant would blossom into a scoring champion and MVP with Westbrook beside him, though the pair never took the Thunder back to the NBA Finals.
The 2016 Playoffs saw the Thunder sit one win away from the NBA Finals against the 73-9 Golden State Warriors, but a monumental series choke led to them being eliminated before the Warriors would blow the same lead to the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.
That loss, and Durant’s belief he couldn’t win a title alongside Westbrook, led to the 2014 MVP joining the team the Thunder lost to and creating an unbeatable superteam with the Warriors. This led to Westbrook’s revenge season in 2016-17, winning the first MVP of his career.
Durant’s belief in winning was validated with the departure, as he won consecutive NBA Finals while Westbrook never got out of the first round in OKC again, even with an MVP-level Paul George as his running mate. Westbrook made history with his multiple seasons averaging triple-doubles, but many stopped considering his play style as one that could lead to winning.
With Westbrook at the tail-end of his career and on the bench on the Clippers, those assertions might be true. The all-time leader in triple-doubles averaged 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.5 assists in a rotational role this season.
Durant has been a top star on all his teams since leaving OKC but hasn’t been able to go beyond the second round since leaving the Warriors. His tenure with the Nets was plagued by many issues which capped the success he could have and he seems to be in another dysfunctional situation with the Phoenix Suns, who have over-committed on a top-heavy roster with limited room to adjust.
The 35-year-old forward averaged 27.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 5.0 assists on the Suns this year. If he can’t win a title in Phoenix, his ability to be the sole leader on a championship team will forever be questioned.
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