Russell Westbrook responded to Kevin Durant questions by talking about fashion
The feud between Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook has been awfully one-sided, with the former keeping quiet — even when it came to texting rather than phoning the latter about his decision to join the Golden State Warriors this past summer — maintaining all the while that there’s “no beef” with his ex-Oklahoma City Thunder teammate and any controversy was merely “fake drama” created by the media.
Meanwhile, Westbrook fired a series of salvos, both verbal and non-verbal, from maniacally laughing off questions about Durant, calling his ex-mate’s affinity for his new team “cute” and inciting a pair of in-game jawing sessions to posting pictures of cupcakes on Instagram, wearing a photographer bib to work and appearing in a Nike commercial that featured the tagline “some run, some make runways.”
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So, when the NBA positioned Westbrook and Durant at opposite ends of the Western Conference locker room, facing each other, during media availability at the All-Star Game in New Orleans, the media scrum circled around the Thunder point guard, hoping to write the next chapter in this feud.
NBA making this Durant-Westbrook line of sight thing pretty easy: pic.twitter.com/hlYDny40cJ
— Erik Horne (@ErikHorneOK) February 17, 2017
But Westbrook responded to every question about Durant and the awkwardness of sharing a locker room with a guy he hasn’t spoken to since they parted ways with commentary about fashion week:
#RussellWestbrook avoided KD/GoldenState questions by asking reporters about their fashion during #NBAAllStar Media Day ???? pic.twitter.com/YWwh15TZG3
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 17, 2017
Russell Westbrook gets two early questions about playing with Durant again, ignores both, turning the topic to fashion pic.twitter.com/EExnlJbE25
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) February 17, 2017
Westbrook’s affinity for fashion is no secret, but the message was clear: He wasn’t about to throw gasoline on the fire, at least not while Durant was sitting 10 feet away from him at All-Star availability. Whatever he said was sure to steal headlines, so deflecting was a savvy move on Westbrook’s part.
The first person to get Westbrook to respond earnestly to a question about Durant was none other than young New Orleans Saints superfan Jarrius Robertson, who had this blunt exchange with Russ:
Robertson: “I give all my props to you, because KD shouldn’t have left you guys and you would’ve had a chance of making the playoffs.”
Westbrook: “We’re going to make the playoffs.”
Robertson: “You need some more shooters, though.”
Westbrook: “You wanna play with us?”
The only time a reporter got Westbrook to respond with anything other than some clothing brand recommendations was when somebody asked if he and the Thunder have moved on from Durant:
Russell Westbrook was asked if he and his team have moved on from Kevin Durant…Gives a strong answer.pic.twitter.com/tfqvBgcOG4
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) February 17, 2017
“What does it look like?” said Westbrook. “That’s y’all problem. I don’t know what y’all need, but I’m in a great place, I’m happy, I’m having fun, having a great time, and I’m happy with my team I have now.”
Nothing to see here, folks. We’ll have to wait for the drama of Westbrook and Durant potentially sharing the floor together again as teammates when the All-Star Game tips off on Sunday night.
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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
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