Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook Beef? Former OKC Teammate's Theory On What Happened

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook's rivalry with each other is overblown and the duo is actually fine with each other, according to former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Anthony Morrow.

Durant and Westbrook played alongside each other at OKC from 2008 to 2016 and would lead the new franchise to the NBA Finals for the first time in 2012, though they would eventually lose to LeBron James and the Miami Heat.

In 2016, they were close to reaching the NBA Finals again, especially after leading the Golden State Warriors 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals. However, the reigning champions would rally and eventually win the series 4-3.

Durant would then controversially sign with the Warriors a month later in a move that is seeing him receive a lot of stick even today. The move seemingly created bad blood between him and Westbrook as well, especially as the two would butt heads and have strong words for each other on the court whenever the teams met.

Morrow though, believes rather than Durant's betrayal, the two simply outgrew each other and needed a change.

"I feel like they outgrew each other," Morrow told Amico Hoops. "They tried it for 10 years; they went to the Finals. I tell them all the time after the fact. … I think they just outgrew each other in terms of their personalities and their games."

In fact, there is no rivalry at all. Instead, it was manufactured by the media and the fans, particularly as the pair are on good terms now, notably being teammates for the NBA All-Star game earlier this year.

"You see how they communicate and interact now," Morrow added. "It was never anything personal or some life stuff, and the media spun it to make it like this big beef."

Westbrook would go on to become MVP the year after Durant left as he averaged a triple-double, before doing the same in the recently-concluded 2017/18 season, though James Harden was named MVP.

The Thunder ultimately underwhelmed in the playoffs though, as they exited in the first round of the playoffs to the Utah Jazz. And while Durant has won two championships and Finals MVP awards since the move, Morrow, now a free agent, believes Westbrook and the Thunder have a real chance this season.

"I think they’ll go further in the playoffs than they went last season," Morrow explained. "They got a chance to make the Western Conference Finals. He’s [Westbrook] got Paul (George), he’s got Steven Adams, I swear I really think that he definitely has a chance. It’s going to come down to if they can get past Golden State, or will Golden State break up. This year may be his best year to get back to the Finals."

Durant notably signed a one-plus-one contract with the Warriors this summer, which means he can be a free agent in 2019. There are rumors that he could move to the Los Angeles Lakers or the New York Knicks, but most interestingly, an OKC return has also been speculated.

If things between him and Westbrook are indeed fine, maybe Durant could emulate James by returning to his old team and helping them win a championship.