Almost a month after he announced his NBA retirement, Russell Westbrook's shocking decision continues to make waves. Kevin Durant added more to his initial reaction as his first NBA superstar teammate called it a career after 18 epic seasons as an inevitable Hall-of-Famer.
Westbrook is the first of the 2010s NBA superstars to hang up his sneakers for good. He was one of the era-defining faces of that decade. In that time, the one-time MVP winner redefined the triple-double statistical achievement and was a perennial All-Star and All-NBA member.
If it were up to Durant, Westbrook would still be in the NBA. The 37-year-old was still putting up numbers. In what turned out to be his final season, he averaged 15.2 points, 6.7 assists and 5.4 rebounds
on the Sacramento Kings this past year. With a couple of reported offers in line, he decided to walk away instead of settling for a veteran leader role.
"I thought he could still play. I feel like he'd be a good veteran presence in a locker room that somebody would want him around," Durant said. "But I heard he had a couple of offers that he just turned down. He just wanted to step away."
A lot of folks have expressed the same sentiment. But if you've followed the NBA long enough, you know players retire for various reasons. It's not solely about sticking around as long as you can. After spending the last one-third of his career as a journeyman backup, it seems like Westbrook was satisfied with his journey after accomplishing about everything you can as an NBA player — sans a championship.
The entire sports world reacted to Westbrook's retirement. The polarizing basketball figure received his flowers from across the globe. Say what you want about his playstyle and if it led to winning, he was one of the best players in the league at the peak of his powers. He perfected stitching his jackpot-winning athleticism with renowned NBA 99th-percentile skills as a scorer, playmaker and rebounder.
Of all the NBA legends that tipped their cap at Westbrook's accolade-filled career, Durant's comments stood out for obvious reasons. The fellow future Hall-of-Famer lived up to the anticipation with a lengthy letter that detailed the characteristics and work ethic that helped him become one of the game's top players.
Durant and Westbrook are two of the three greatest players the Oklahoma City Thunder have ever had. The NBA superstar duo headlined their first title contender. In eight seasons, they made the 2012 NBA Finals and had four Western Conference Finals appearances. Even though their nasty divorce and ringless adventures ended things on a sour note, you can't take away from their legendary eight years together as one of the more dynamic tandems in recent memory.
KD says Russ retiring hit him hard 😢
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 27, 2026
(Via @boardroom / h/t @NBA__Courtside ) pic.twitter.com/DjAyc2onRq
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Kevin Durant believes recently-retired Russell Westbrook can still play in NBA
