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Reading: Russell Westbrook Shares His True Reaction To Kevin Durant Joining The Warriors After OKC Blew A 3-1 Lead
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Home > NBA News & Analysis > Oklahoma City Thunder News & Analysis > Russell Westbrook Shares His True Reaction To Kevin Durant Joining The Warriors After OKC Blew A 3-1 Lead

Russell Westbrook Shares His True Reaction To Kevin Durant Joining The Warriors After OKC Blew A 3-1 Lead

Russell Westbrook started laughing when he first heard Kevin Durant was leaving the Thunder for the Warriors.

Gautam Varier
Sep 17, 2025
4 Min Read
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Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

Kevin Durant stunned the basketball world when he left the Oklahoma City Thunder to sign with the Golden State Warriors in 2016. The Thunder had just blown a 3-1 lead to the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, and Russell Westbrook spoke about his feelings from back then in a resurfaced clip from the Passion Play documentary.

“I’m pissed, I’m livid,” Westbrook said. “I felt like we let that opportunity slip away… I was just like, if we have the same team, we can do it again.”

That 2015-16 Thunder team was quite special. They had already pulled off a big upset by defeating the 67-15 San Antonio Spurs in six games in the Western Conference Semifinals. The Thunder then dominated the 73-9 Warriors through the first four games of their series, but were unable to get over the line.

Westbrook was understandably backing the Thunder to go all the way the following season if they kept the team together.

“Myself and Kevin had a unique situation,” Westbrook stated. “Because Kevin was really, really good early. I wasn’t that great. Kevin was always getting better… My evolution happened pretty quickly to where, we never was equal, but we were pretty damn close of being able to hold our own and run the organization and do things that can change the game.”

Durant was unquestionably the best player on that Thunder team. He had won an MVP and four scoring titles by that point, but Westbrook wasn’t some slouch either. He had won a scoring title too in 2015 and had made five All-NBA teams at the end of that 2015-16 season.

Durant and Westbrook were arguably the best duo in the NBA in 2016, but the former decided he didn’t want to continue that partnership. He joined a Warriors team that he had just failed to close out, and his former co-star couldn’t believe it.

“I started laughing instantly,” Westbrook said. “I’m like, ‘This can’t be true.’ It’s like, ‘Nah, no way he would go to that team, they just beat us.'”

“I’m pissed. I’m livid. I feel like we let that opportunity slip away. I start laughing instantly I’m like this can’t be true, nah no way (KD) would go to that team, they just beat us.”

– Russ on KD leaving

(h/t @TheWestbrookEra )

pic.twitter.com/tR26abnycx

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 16, 2025

Well, no one could quite believe that Durant was doing this. Westbrook subtly threw shade at his former teammate back then by referring to him as a cupcake for the decision.

Durant unsurprisingly made a Warriors team that already had Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green an unstoppable force. They had blown a 3-1 lead to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Finals, but a repeat wouldn’t happen the following year.

The Warriors crushed the Cavaliers in five games in the 2017 NBA Finals to finish the postseason with a 16-1 record, the best in league history. They’d win it all again in 2018, and the only reason they didn’t three-peat was injuries.

All certainly wasn’t well between Durant and Westbrook during those years, but tensions eased over time. Westbrook made it clear there is no beef now and that he has nothing but respect for Durant.

While Westbrook has gotten over the decision by now, a lot of basketball fans have not. Durant has spoken at length about why he decided to join the Warriors, but no explanation will ever justify the move in the minds of many. The now-Houston Rockets superstar realizes that a section of fans will never forgive him, but he isn’t losing sleep over it.

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TAGGED:Golden State Warriors ArchiveKevin DurantOklahoma City Thunder ArchiveRussell Westbrook
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ByGautam Varier
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Gautam Varier is a staff writer and columnist for Fadeaway World from Mumbai, India. He graduated from Symbiosis International University with a Master of Business specializing in Sports Management in 2020. This educational achievement enables Gautam to apply sophisticated analytical techniques to his incisive coverage of basketball, blending business acumen with sports knowledge.Before joining Fadeaway World in 2022, Gautam honed his journalistic skills at Sportskeeda and SportsKPI, where he covered a range of sports topics with an emphasis on basketball. His passion for the sport was ignited after witnessing the high-octane offense of the Steve Nash-led Phoenix Suns. Among the Suns, Shawn Marion stood out to Gautam as an all-time underrated NBA player. Marion’s versatility as a defender and his rebounding prowess, despite being just 6’7”, impressed Gautam immensely. He admired Marion’s finishing ability at the rim and his shooting, despite an unconventional jump shot, believing that Marion’s skill set would have been even more appreciated in today’s NBA.This transformative experience not only deepened his love for basketball but also shaped his approach to sports writing, enabling him to connect with readers through vivid storytelling and insightful analysis.
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