We may not see a regular season game like Saturday’s clash between the Warriors and Thunder for a long, long time.
Kevin Durant made the return to his old stomping grounds for the first time since leaving Oklahoma City for the Bay Area this summer, and the intensity from the scorned OKC fans was dialed up to 11 for nearly the entire 48 minutes. Things got testy on the court as well. Durant openly jawed with Russell Westbrook at the end of the third quarter, before going face-to-face with former teammate Andre Roberson shortly after.
Warriors beat writer Anthony Slater covered the Thunder before making the switch with Durant to cover Golden State this season. Slater was at the game Saturday and told Murph and Mac Monday morning that the atmosphere in the building was beyond even what he’s seen during an NBA Finals.
“In 2012 as an intern I covered Thunder-Heat (2012 Finals), and a couple years ago I covered Warriors-Cavs (2015 Finals),” Slater said. “I believe (Saturday) had a Conference Finals level of media credentials, and to me it was more than an NBA Finals type of intensity because it was personal…It went way beyond just a game and wanting to win the game. There were rich storylines that just felt so beyond sports and I feel pretty close to the story.”
“Just to see him and (Andre) Roberson kind’ve head butting each other it’s like man, these guys were such good friends last year and (Durant is) friends with (Roberson’s) family. To see him and Westbrook, it’s been brewing obviously for so long.”
Durant and Westbrook were teammates in Oklahoma City for eight years. The pairing held a 3-1 lead over the Warriors before dropping three straight in last year’s Western Conference Finals. While Durant seems to publicly think the beef between him and Westbrook is largely a media creation, their relationship is inarguably fractured, with Westbrook telling reporters last month that he and Durant are not on speaking terms.
Golden State will make their final regular season trip to Oklahoma City on March 20.
“This is always what they told us would never happen: They’d never break up, they’d never be at odds,” Slater said regarding Durant and Westbrook. “It was weird. Steve Kerr I think called it strange and weird, I thought those were kind’ve the two perfect words.”
Listen to the full interview below.