When Kevin Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder in the summer of 2016 to join the Golden State Warriors, it wasn’t just a basketball decision, it was an emotional earthquake for everyone in the Thunder locker room. The move shocked the league, but for Durant’s former teammates, it felt personal. Nearly a decade later, former Thunder center Enes Kanter still hasn’t fully moved past it.
In a recent conversation with Emmanuel Romanous, Kanter opened up about the pain and disappointment he felt when Durant decided to leave Oklahoma City not because he left, but because of how he left.
“Looking back, I got to play with players like Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. We had a lot of arguments because he left OKC and went to Golden State. But anyway, I still try to respect him, because, I mean, dude wanted to win.”
“Not only myself, but I think a lot of players did lose respect for him. Because you’re going to a team that just won a championship, they didn’t need him. Like, what are you trying to create? The Avengers? We were up 3–1. They came back and beat us 4–3. That same year, they broke a record, won 73 games, and people were saying that was the best team ever.”
“They were debating whether it was the Bulls or Golden State. So they didn’t really need you. Once he left, a lot of players and a lot of the fans lost respect for him. But at the end of the day, I guess it’s a business.”
“People were making fun of him because he didn’t win a championship, saying, ‘You’re so good, you’ve got all those scoring titles, the MVP, everything but you haven’t won anything for the city.’”
“I guess you’ve got to understand it’s a business, you know. We were like brothers. We were like a family. And the thing is, he never really had a conversation with us. He just left. The sad part is, we actually found out on Twitter or X, what you call it now. It’s not like he said, ‘Hey guys, thank you so much, you gave me everything, but I’ve got to make a business decision and move on.’”
“We would’ve understood. We wouldn’t have been happy about it, but we’d have respected it. Because he was part of our family, a huge part. It just made us really sad that he left the way he did.”
When Kevin Durant left the Oklahoma City Thunder in the summer of 2016 to join the Golden State Warriors, it wasn’t just a basketball decision; it was an emotional earthquake for everyone in the Thunder locker room. The move shocked the league, but for Durant’s former teammates, it felt personal.
Nearly a decade later, former Thunder center Enes Kanter still hasn’t fully moved past it.
Durant’s departure hit harder because of how close that Thunder team was. Kanter described the locker room as “a family,” a tight-knit group that had gone through battles together. They weren’t just co-workers; they were brothers chasing the same dream, a championship that always seemed just within reach.
But when Durant made his decision, there was no team meeting, no message, and no goodbye.
In a recent conversation with Emmanuel Romanous, Kanter opened up about the pain and disappointment he felt when Durant decided to leave Oklahoma City, not because he left, but because of how he left.
The Thunder, led by Durant and Russell Westbrook, had just blown a 3–1 lead to Golden State in the 2016 Western Conference Finals. It was a devastating loss, one that stung even more when Durant chose to join the same team that had crushed their title hopes. To many, including Kanter, it felt like a betrayal rather than a business move.
Durant’s move to Golden State immediately paid off. The Warriors won back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018, and Durant claimed two Finals MVPs. From a legacy standpoint, he proved he could be the best player on a championship team but for some of his former teammates, the respect he once had was gone forever.
Enes Kanter admits he’s tried to understand Durant’s decision, acknowledging that the NBA is ultimately a business. Still, he believes the lack of communication and abruptness of the move left a lasting scar on those who were part of that Thunder team.
At the end of the day, Durant achieved what he set out to do: win. But in doing so, he fractured bonds that may never be repaired.
For Enes Kanter and many others who were in that Oklahoma City locker room, the disappointment wasn’t about losing a teammate; it was about losing a brother without even getting the chance to say goodbye.
