Did Kevin Durant really tell Russell Westbrook he was going to re-sign with the Thunder in early July before ultimately changing his mind and signing with the Warriors? If you believe ESPN.com reporter Royce Young, yes. On Tuesday, Young appeared on ESPN's True Hoop podcast and reported that KD told Westbrook he was coming back to Oklahoma City during a dinner meeting that took place right after he became a free agent.
"Three weeks ago, Kevin Durant’s sitting there at dinner, telling him, 'Hey, I’m coming back, man. Don’t worry about it,'" Young said on the podcast. "And now, Russell Westbrook has been kind of thrown into this in having to decide his future a summer earlier than expected."
Westbrook still hasn’t spoken to anyone in the media about what KD did or didn’t say to him prior to his departure from OKC, but according to KD himself, he "never told" Westbrook he would definitely be back with the Thunder. KD spoke with The Vertical on Thursday and provided his side of the story. He said he did have dinner with Westbrook and Thunder center Nick Collison, which is something that has been widely reported, but he said that he didn’t make any promises about returning to OKC during that meal.
"It’s false," KD said when asked about Young’s report. "I didn’t say that—words about me telling Russell or Nick that I would stay or leave never came out of my mouth. We met as teammates, but no promises came out of it. In this day and age, I can’t control anything people claim out there. Someone can go out and say something random right now, and people will believe it. I never told Russell or Nick, 'All right, guys, I’m coming back to the Thunder'—and then a week later, I decide not to. Never happened. I don’t operate like that. I heard people say that story, but it’s not the truth."
At this point, it’s hard to figure out what the truth is with regards to the recent Durant and Westbrook drama. So hopefully Westbrook will speak up soon and set the record straight.
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